Gem Ascension
by Shinneth
Summary: With Steven and the Crystal Gems trapped within the confines of Homeworld, reinforcements from Earth come together to mount a rescue. Believe in Lapis, Bismuth, Greg... and their leader, Peridot. (immediately follows Escapism)
1. Center of Gravity

As Gem Homeworld heralded the beginning of Era 3 on a very dour note, the Crystal Gems that remained on Earth were given a clear objective. So many details were unknown to them on how and why negotiations went south with the Diamond Authority, but all that was needed for them to act was the clear message on the sand to send for back-up.

Normally, there would be immediate action, but only two pairs of eyes could witness the message as the Watermelon Steven that its namesake projected his consciousness into wrote it in on the beach: Greg, his father who largely stayed out of the conflict with no capability for combat, and Bismuth, a veteran Crystal Gem who had regained her consciousness less than a day ago and hadn't been in active service for thousands of years. Both agreed it wouldn't do their imperiled friends any good to jump into danger without a plan, and especially with so few numbers.

It wasn't long before the last possible member of the back-up team became available to them; light poured out from the gemstone as everyone set their eyes on their final and most-needed Crystal Gem to carry out the rescue mission coming into form.

"All right! Last, but not least!"

"Welcome back, Peridot!"

A very antsy and befuddled Peridot opened her eyes to the bright, smiling trio of faces that had circled around her gem in anticipation for his moment. Among the father of her close friend and the Crystal Gem she had only met earlier today, Lapis Lazuli was also present, though she opted to smile smugly instead of giving her former roommate a verbal greeting.

"Hi…?" Peridot could only hesitantly answer back, hanging on the end syllable for a bit as she tried to get a handle on the situation. After all, her last memory was being zapped to near-oblivion by her former superior… and split-second sidelong glances indicated that no one else was present on the beach besides Lion and Pumpkin. There was a large crowd that suddenly shrank into a handful of people, yet Peridot could tell she was still in Beach City, there had been no casualties, and for whatever reason, Blue and Yellow Diamond were no longer invading her peaceful home. She assumed upon reforming, there would either be a large massive audience giving her a standing ovation for fearlessly telling off Yellow Diamond for the second time, or she would be on Homeworld awaiting trial to be shattered with extreme prejudice. There seemed to be no possible middle road to this.

"I have no idea what to even ask first…"

"Things were pretty crazy out there," Bismuth understood. "All following up a wedding, on top of that. Worry not, Tiny." She gestured to the gem to her left. "She agreed to get you up to speed."

"Depends which you want first, Crystal Newbie," Lapis offered; the smirk still hadn't faded from her lips. "Good news or bad news?"

Peridot's features hardened upon being given the choice. She had been on Earth long enough to know this either meant there was really only bad news and a morale booster, or all good news with the bad news serving as a red herring just to mess with people. In the back of her mind, she recalled how this is the first time she's seen Lapis since the her escape to the Moon with all of their belongings. That brought about mixed feelings, primarily good, though that expression Lapis wore brought some irritation inherent with getting the short end of the stick in this split-up.

"The least you _could_ do is give me a moment's respite with good news," she replied, keeping her tone tempered despite her obvious passive-aggression. She wanted to just keep it at that, but couldn't help but hang on that name she was called. "Wait, Crystal _Newbie?_ "

"That's what I said; it's actually your good news," Lapis informed her in a more genuinely positive manner. "Check out your uniform."

"My–" Peridot froze before she could say anything more. No longer in the flowing yellow dress she wore for her Flower Girl duties, she was back to donning her default outfit. Still colored just the same, and the aesthetic difference Lapis implied was minor from a purely objective standpoint. But, with the context that came with the yellow diamonds on her knees and torso being replaced, it meant so much more.

"Oh. My. _Stars_."

Every word was spaced by a few moments of pause as Peridot took it all in, while trying in vain to contain the hint of a joyous squeal that threatened to escape her mouth. Though this was hardly the time to celebrate anything, her taller companions smiled along, all silently agreeing to at least let the youngest gem have her moment. Very soon, she would have bear the burden placed down on them already.

" _Literally_ , my stars! I-I thought they'd never show up! It's been-… been how many months since I called her a clod?! Is it because I said it to her in person this time? Was a heroic sacrifice required?! Maybe my morality meter just wasn't high enough until-"

Bismuth's joyous smile became one of confusion as she watched Peridot continue to rant and rave to herself over her well overdue visual alignment shift. "There you go, now you look the part of a Crystal Gem, too!" She forced a grin as she muttered quietly to Lapis, "She knows she could've changed that any time, right…?"

"Era 2," Lapis casually replied; she knew no more explanation than that was needed.

"Oh, bless her," Bismuth sympathized, trying not to look she pitied the green gem overtly. "I was gonna say she's only short in stature and nothing else after seeing her today. Guess it's also age… unless we're talkin' gaps between us; now _that's_ pretty big," she said with a chuckle, which Lapis couldn't help but share.

"-but if it _is_ like transitioning from Dark Knight to Paladin, what does going back to level 1 mean to m-" Peridot cut herself off and turned her attention to her two fellow gems. Her childlike enthusiasm transitioned to a childlike tantrum as she stomped over towards them. " _Hey_ _!_ Do you _really_ think I'm not on to you both? What else could you be laughing about if not the great and lovable yours truly?!"

It was _immensely_ hard for Bismuth not to snort into full-on laughter and make a remark about her short temper. It was even harder not to point out that Peridot unintentionally insulted herself. The laughter seemed contagious, as at this point even Greg had to stifle himself.

"Maybe you've got a point," Lapis humored her. "But you're also not the only Crystal Newbie today." That got Peridot's attention, which prompted her to take her attention away from the faces of her acquaintances and look down to notice her friend had received a similar upgrade: a navy blue star adorned the center of her halter top in place of the half-diamond, while a row of smaller stars decorated the hem of her dress where the bottom half of her former "diamond" mark originally was. "Yeah, I wasn't sure whether or not that counts as good news to you, but it's officially a thing for me now, too." The very, _very_ obvious way Peridot tried to purge away any hint of jealousy in her smile told Lapis all she needed to know.

"Welcome to the club as the newest member of the Crystal Gems," Bismuth jovially greeted to Peridot specifically. She had already given Lapis a similar welcome aboard when she reformed ten minutes earlier; of course Lapis knew by all rights _she_ was the newest member. She simply couldn't resist passing up on an opportunity to push Peridot's buttons - one thing Lapis begrudgingly could admit to herself she had missed doing since relocating to the Moon.

"I reformed before you, so technically I _did_ earn my stars first," Lapis egged on. She wanted to be sure to get this out of her system right here, right now. Following that, there would be no time for laughing; Bismuth and Greg were already all too aware. Realistically, they all knew it would be impossible to mount a rescue right this very second… whatever would be necessary to answer the call would no doubt involve working around the clock, and no one had any plans for how exactly they would be able to even leave the planet in the first place.

But if anyone could formulate a plan of action _and_ a means of transport in a time crunch like this, it would be the Crystal Gems' youngest non-organic member. And that was only the tip of the iceberg in how crucial it was for Peridot to be part of the rescue team, but Greg had the foresight to let the other gems know ahead of time that front-loading the burden on her could cause their rescue efforts to blow up in their faces before it even starts. Over time, Greg had become familiar enough with Peridot to know some extent of her limitations, even if they spent relatively little time interacting directly. What he did know for certain was how close Steven had become to her, and from what he witnessed of their interactions, Peridot felt like the first gem who came off as something other than a maternal substitution for his son.

Well, with Amethyst the term was much looser compared to Garnet and Pearl, but even she had her moments where she'd put her foot down. But really, the eldest of the Shorty Squad embodied more of a cool big sister who could be a role model… sometimes. With Peridot, the widowed father got the vibe that she, more than anything, was a relative equal. Sometimes more so than Connie, even, Peridot embodied the kind of company Steven should keep to best enjoy his remaining years of childhood. Especially now since it was revealed his late wife was Pink Diamond all along, Greg had all but given up on believing Steven could ever truly live like an ordinary human boy. Once he witnessed Steven willfully inherit the mistakes and consequences of Rose and dedicate himself to making things right, Greg couldn't deny his little boy really had grown up too quickly… and it was entirely out of his hands. As a bonus, Peridot's overall ignorance of both Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond made her take that double identity revelation in stride. She had no reason to give the man any grief over it; that was a card even Amethyst would, could, and _has_ used on Greg.

As Greg watched the diminutive gem fail to keep her cool in the eyes of Lapis' trolling, he knew he needed to get some laughs out before getting to business. Unlike previous times, Greg felt he wouldn't be left on Earth to "hold down the fort" for this mission. He had no doubts that the remaining Crystal Gems were competent, but a direct conflict with the Diamond Authority on their home turf would no doubt require everyone on the team to have any chance of success, if the post-wedding battle on this very beach was any indication. With less than half of the combatants on hand, Greg could tell even with so many details flying over his head that he couldn't in all good conscience just spectate.

"Sure… th-that's… that's totally how it works," Peridot grunted; hands tightened into fists and shook as she tried not to blow up then and there. Her glorious moment now felt cheapened, and for the life of her, she had a hard time accepting it. Life on Earth had given Peridot some measure of self-discipline, as she learned the hard way that in spite of how easily she could elicit joyous laughter from those around her, often times the technician could easily hurt her friends if she spoke too candidly. "Your timing was just so _perfect_ back there," she said through gritted teeth. "Wh-why bother proving your loyalty by being the one who finally took out Jasper for good? _Anyone_ could just call Yellow Diamond a clod to her face, right?" Her attempts to veil her sarcasm took a nosedive from there. "What was I thinking, n-needing to drill straight down the Earth's _core_ and stop a massive cluster from busting this planet to bits, just to prove I'm a Crystal Gem?! Pfft, I could have left this rock ages ago and _still_ get that recognition if I had a cool enough entrance to that silly battle…"

While Lapis opted to let Peridot sweat it out a bit longer, because she still felt a twinge of annoyance just hearing Jasper's name even now (and that backhanded reference to her decision to retreat from Earth didn't help matters), Bismuth decided to step in and ease the tension. To have any hope in making it to the imperiled Crystal Gems, the back-up team could not afford to be dysfunctional.

"Okay, okay, settle down," the arms specialist gently urged, coming between the two. "Peridot, I know we've just met today, but Steven gave me the rundown about how you ended up joining the cause. Let it be known we're just foolin'." She pointed to the star holding the younger gem's straps together, and Peridot quietly followed the gesture. "Those stars have been inside you this whole time, ever since you first stood up for your friends here on Earth. This Diamond invasion could've happened a long time ago if you had direct contact with Yellow, but here we are. Maybe they were a little late coming in, but there's no shame in being a late bloomer, you hear me?"

That last part flew over Peridot's head, as she tilted her hear up to Bismuth. "I'm not a flower, but…" Her features softened then; she was genuinely touched hearing this from a relative stranger. She picked up earlier that Bismuth was a Crystal Gem who predated even Amethyst, and some of her works from the early Era 1 period were documented on Homeworld. So there was a precedent that this praise was quite meaningful, which made Peridot's beaming that much brighter. "Wow, thanks."

"You said you hadn't been poofed since the Crystal Gems first captured you, as I recall," Lapis added, still cool as a cucumber. "So there's some cold hard facts if you were looking for a literal answer. Feel better now?"

Not even patronizing would kill Peridot's blissful moment now, though she tried to regain some composure before addressing Lapis. "Nyeh, as if Earth's co-saviour would fall apart _that_ easily over some measly aesthetic symbolism." Now she sounded more like herself. But now that Peridot had been given time to take in how good she felt to finally look like she fit into this family - and to a lesser degree she _was_ happy for Lapis - she remembered why she got this news in the first place.

"So, the bad news…" Peridot sobered down, as she already had a sense of dread the moment she acknowledged her current surroundings. Had she gotten the bad news right off, Peridot stood a chance in getting too overwhelmed to the point of destabilizing herself. Too much had happened and still continued to this moment, and the possibilities conjured in her mind were not pleasant ones. "It's Steven, isn't it? Why isn't he here to tell me how cool I look now? Are we seriously the only ones still here…?"

Lapis finally ceased her smiling. Bismuth closed her eyes and quietly sighed. Greg's eyes darted off towards the ocean as he tried not to shake and drench his shirt in sweat. Noticing all of this, Peridot gulped and looked to Lapis; she ceased making any noise, not wanting to miss a single detail of what was really going on around here.

"It'll take forever to go fully into detail," Lapis prefaced. "And we can't afford to waste more time than we already have, so make do with some abridged bullet points for now. If you need details, ask for them once when you can afford the moment."

Peridot silently nodded; she had no desire to constantly halt Lapis with questions between each half-sentence.

"Right, so… what happened after we were poofed. Steven was able to prove to Blue and Yellow that he was Pink Diamond before anyone else got hurt. The hostilities ceased there."

It was then that Peridot noticed her tablet was sitting in a pile of other supplies nearby Greg; no doubt to make sure everyone was equipped with what they needed for the mission briefing. During the break between Lapis' first sentence and her next, Peridot scrambled over on all-fours to retrieve her tablet, strap it to her wrist, then scoot back to where she was previously. Her attention remained firmly on Lapis as if she had never even moved. She didn't even need to watch herself transcribe the statement onto her tablet.

"Next, Steven insisted on assuming his mother's mantle and make up for her transgressions; he believed through the Diamonds, we'll finally find a way to cure the corrupted gems roaming the Earth. In exchange, the Diamonds would bring him to Homeworld to "reunite" with White Diamond and… negotiate there, I guess." Lapis still didn't like that part one bit, and rightfully so. If she hadn't been poofed during the battle, one of the Diamonds definitely would have done it to her later for defiantly speaking out of turn.

Peridot understandably tensed up when hearing about the Diamonds, but remained steadfast in absorbing the details. Correctly, she assumed she was the last one getting this news due to the circumstances, and a small part of her wondered why they would take the chance to waste time waiting for her to reform instead of working on a plan immediately. Like Lapis, she knew nothing good would come from everyone being under the Diamonds' custody on their home turf.

"So, here's what we're faced with," Lapis said ominously. "All we know right now is that their plans fell through, _fast_. We have no idea where they are in Homeworld, why negotiations fell through, or how they're in so much trouble that Steven could only give us _this_ to let us know they're in trouble. And he had to push the limits of reality itself to make it this far. It's up to us to decide what the Crystal Gems do from here."

Lapis pointed out to a part of the beach just behind Peridot; an area she had yet to scan. She turned around, then sat up and approached the point indicated by Lapis to see what Steven left for them. The way Lapis talked, it almost implied that Steven was actually here, but alas, all she saw was the very simple request for back-up written in the sand. For one could fathom the reason why Peridot took a picture of this message with her tablet, but there was no time to dwell on it. She approached her comrades, now fully serious and more driven than anyone has ever seen her.

"Understood; thank you for the report, Lapis," Peridot said with complete neutrality in her tone. She looked to Bismuth. "So this message came along a while before I reformed, it seems. The three of you clearly knew this story already… I appreciate your consideration for waiting for my reformation before following the trail, but I must ask, what preparations have you all made in the meantime?" She did not like how there was only a small collection of supplies and a nearly barren workbench in her sights, and nothing more than debris from the battle.

Nothing was organized. A working mode of interstellar transportation was nowhere to be seen.

"It's only been an hour or so since we got the news," Bismuth admitted, now looking uneasy with the small gem's intensity. "And, well… as you can see, there's not much in the way of diversity in the group; at least not for what we'll need to come to their rescue."

"Basically, we're saying we've been at an impasse before you reformed," Lapis dully added. "Disregarding personal feelings about even going back to that… _place_ ," she greatly suppressed her disgust at such an idea. "We have no way to get to Homeworld. Even if we could make it there somehow, we won't be much of a rescue team if we don't know where Steven is."

"Lapis said she couldn't recognize Homeworld as she remembered it last time she was there," Bismuth followed up. "And me? It's been _way_ longer than that since I've set foot on Homeworld. No way am I gonna fit as a team navigator. But…"

"... I can," Peridot finished; her professional tone waned at that moment. "Right, of course. Peridots are _the_ technicians of Homeworld, so we have to cover every inch of the planet to perform maintenance. And that includes the Diamond Palaces, which is where we _should_ find our friends. Alternatively, they could be stuck in a Prison Tower."

"You're sure you can find it?" Lapis asked, just to be sure. "I know it's been a while since you were last there, but…"

"Sure, but by my estimate, it's been less than three quarters of an Earth's solar orbit," Peridot assured, gradually sounding more like her usual peppy, confident self. "And for you two, it's been that thousands of times over." She frowned a bit upon remembering a small detail. "Of course, it was rare for me to be on Homeworld without my limb enhancers. Those, my touch screen… they contained a lot of that information. It was designed that way so we would never get lost," Peridot solemnly recalled. "So of _course_ , Amethyst dumped all of that into the ocean right after they captured me… that's invaluable data that I can't possibly retrieve."

As if Bismuth didn't feel bad enough for Peridot already. Era 2 didn't kick off until after Rose had bubbled her, so Bismuth had little to no basis for truly identifying a gem that emerged during that time period; but given Peridot's natural size, she suspected her new little friend to be a very recent Era 2. Bismuth realized her youth is an asset to this mission, as she's the only one comfortable with the modern-day tech that had long replaced the antiquated methods she and Lapis were familiar with.

"Aw, forget all that hoo-hah," the blacksmith insisted. "Greg and Lapis here told me what a clever little pebble you've been since you came to us. And the whole time, you had nothing but what you were made with."

"You didn't know you could manipulate metal while you lived on Homeworld, right?" Lapis asked, though she knew the answer. She wanted - _needed_ to remind Peridot that her intellect didn't come from a machine. "I bet when you go back, you won't find a single Peridot who can do that. So forget the stupid limb enhancers; you don't need them. You can still recognize specific places on Homeworld without them with your own memory. Your feelings, your experiences, your routine."

Peridot really did need to hear this, because she was already feeling overwhelmed. Knowing for sure now that Steven or any of his friends are in danger, yet not knowing just how well they are right now… that would forever haunt her until she saw those faces again. She was more than driven to give this mission her all, but she was very horrified to see now that Lapis, Bismuth, and Greg made zero progress while waiting for her to reform. No one had a plan for any stage of this mission, but Peridot certainly did.

She had _too many of them_ _._

"Right, right," Peridot muttered as she willed herself to stop moping over what was lost. "I certainly had a consistent routine before my mission to Earth… if I see it again, I'm sure it'll all come flooding back. I just spent all this time trying to forget about it... to our detriment. I won't let you down again." It was unclear whom she was referring to, but it was assumed across the board that Peridot was talking about everyone as a collective unit. "By process of elimination, I must be your navigator."

"Good! You can guide us right to the Diamonds so I can finally show those upper-crust tyrants what for!" Bismuth declared, bursting with enthusiasm, pride, and an unquenched thirst for vengeance.

"Quickest way to handle this is a surprise attack," Lapis advised the blacksmith. "One tsunami… that's all it would take... they'll never see it coming."

"What?! Oh, stars, no," Peridot couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had to nip this in the bud quick, so she puffed up her chest, hands on her hips as she tried her best to stand her ground on something she could easily be outvoted over. "No, no, no, no _no_. What exactly do you two think this is?! This is a _rescue mission_ , not a _second wave_ _!_ ! We get in, rescue Steven and the others, then _get out_. That plan is already a suicide mission in its own right, but seriously, think about what you're saying!" Peridot urged, very easily grabbing both Lapis' and Bismuth's attention. "You seriously want to take the fight to the Diamonds? In _their_ realm? What makes you think you'll even get a _glimpse_ of the Diamonds before you get shattered by their Homeworld army, which in case you've forgotten, **outnumber us INFINITY TO ONE!** "

Bismuth's eyes bugged out at the outburst. For such a comically diminutive gem of the lowest tier, this Peridot had the fire of an Elite in her. "Whoa."

Lapis raised an eyebrow, but otherwise looked unfazed. "Right, but most of them can't fly, right? Getting the drop on them would be _stupid_ easy."

"Oh no, just _stupid_ ," Peridot shot back, narrowing her eyes. "I suppose I can't blame you since "your" Homeworld is hardly anything like the Homeworld of today, but Lapis…" Lapis saw her hesitate a bit. "I've always seen you do such cool and powerful things; I can't even dream of pulling metal off like you do water. But… Lapis…"

"But Lapis _what?_ "

"Homeworld's natural reserves dried up a long time ago; the Homeworld I knew only had water processed through machinery… usually as a coolant," Peridot confessed. "At best, I could try bending the metal piping to free up some water that way… and I've heard rumors the Diamonds have their own natural sources exclusively for them. The latter is a deathwish. No way, no how you'll get to that water before the Diamonds notice you. And I can tell you with utmost certainty that Homeworld's infrastructure is _heavily_ layered."

The group quietly listened while Peridot struggled to suppress her anger and frustration.

"I've been getting better, but it could take me hours just to peel off every layer to expose the core water line," the young gem admitted, looking ashamed. "And even if I did pull this off, it would cause a chain reaction that will compromise the entire facility. Our cover? Blown. If we don't already have Steven and the others before that, we'd might as well shatter ourselves. We'll get surrounded in a matter of seconds."

"S-so… so what, you're saying I'm _useless_ for this mission?" Lapis finally asked, for once looking vulnerable. She understood the implications. She knew Peridot was saying this for her own safety, but that didn't ease the pain of a harsh truth Peridot had just lain upon her. "Is that it?! I might as well stay here?!"

"Th-that's not what I'm saying at all!" Peridot's voice cracked; clearly, until now she didn't realize her words still had the power to faze the mighty Lapis. "The point I'm trying to make…." She looked to Bismuth just to make sure she was following along. "… is that you can't come into this doing what you usually do. And yeah, I'm sure you're both eager to take your anger out on Homeworld. Those feelings are fully warranted. There's no love lost between me and Homeworld, either. Just understand that acting on those feelings at this time will accomplish nothing, and you'll be shattered before you can turn around to come back home. Can you guess what the worst thing about this would be…?"

Lapis and Bismuth just stared on; neither were inclined to answer, as now they both were second-guessing themselves.

"If you shatter before we get everyone home," Peridot warned with a sniff, then squinted her eyes to ward away any oncoming tears. "Someone's going to have to tell him. Someone's going to have to tell Steven Universe that you lost your life, that you were _shattered_ while coming to save him. _He's_ the one who agreed to this shady "negotiation", _he's_ the one who took most of his friends out there to suffer the consequences of an attempt of making peace falling through. _He_ … is the one who made this call for help." Peridot pointed down at the message in the sand. "We are going to Homeworld because he asked us to. You two… should know what that's going to do to Steven, once he finds out."

Peridot didn't need to go any further than that. Lapis covered her eyes in a vain attempt to hide her tears; just picturing what Peridot described felt like those agonizing moments before your body disappeared into thin air and returned to its natural gem shape. Seeing a traumatized and despondent Steven, much like how she had been for so many years… it was too much. The emotional weight of that consequence… Lapis felt like her gemstone would break in half all over again.

While Bismuth didn't have nearly as much time as the others to spend with Steven, the talks they had told Bismuth all she needed to know. On top of that, even though the scenario would be impossible, Bismuth couldn't stop seeing Rose Quartz standing right across from her. For them to fall out the way they did over clashing ideals, for Bismuth to take that first step to redemption after thousands of years thanks to her son, what would Bismuth have to say for herself if her actions made Steven suffer the very fate they had debated so very much on. She gladly would die for the boy, without hesitation. But Peridot's words quickly reminded the war veteran that self-sacrifice was not a matter to take lightly. She fights to protect the ones she loves… what can she do for them as a lifeless, shattered mass of rainbow pebbles?

"While you're thinking about that, also take his paternal unit into account as well," a savage Peridot added, pointing right to a very quiet Greg Universe. He was engrossed in so much of this, but once the topic shifted to how failing this mission would affect Steven, he was making pitiful attempts to clear the tears from his eyes. He gawked at the gems when all eyes turned on him. "Do you want to put him through all that pain when he can't do anything to help his own offspring?! Stars forbid we _really_ screw up our mission, and it's _Steven_ who's sh-"

 **"THAT'S ENOUGH!"**

That came from Greg, of all people. Peridot froze, terrified. She had never heard Steven's father raise his voice like this. He seemed like such a mellowed out guy…

"Peridot, believe me, I'm _glad_ you're drilling it into their heads that you all need to play it as safe as you possibly can!" the man assured her, though he was still clearly triggered. "But enough's enough! Can't you see?" He gestured to Lapis and Bismuth, whose faces were still covered by their hands as they tried to suppress their crying, but they weren't fooling anyone. Pumpkin cuddled up next to Lapis, whimpering along with her. Meanwhile, Lion came to Bismuth's side to provide support.

Peridot felt like such a monster.

"I know you mean well," Greg told her, trying his best _not_ to make her feel like the worst gem ever. "But you made your point. You let me worry about… those other things, okay? It's what dads do."

Peridot really wanted to cry along with the other gems, but internally she convinced herself to resist it. Her logic dictated that this would accomplish absolutely nothing. In fact, Peridot realized she was doing exactly the opposite of what she wanted to do: waste time. It was important to set everyone's priorities straight to they'd all be on the same page, but they hadn't even gotten started on finding or building ship worthy of making a trip across the galaxy. Peridot needed to decide which plan to go with, and stick with it.

"I'm sorry," she muttered to Greg before quietly approaching Lapis and Bismuth, who had calmed down significantly. She grumbled to herself briefly before deciding how to smooth things over. "Look, you two… I didn't mean to make you think about that kind of stuff," Peridot started off in a soft tone. "I know I sound like _Pearl_ right now, but… _gah!_ " She wished so badly she still had that tape recorder. That would have made everything so much easier. "W-we seriously can't spare the time even entertaining fantasies like that, okay? I know this _feels_ like the perfect opportunity to get revenge for what Homeworld has done to you, to all of us… but it just isn't. Let's do the mission that was assigned to us, okay?"

"I… I went too far," Lapis admitted, sounding awkward and unsure of herself. "Part of me was just kidding at the start, to be honest… it got out of hand, but you… I've got no doubts about you now, Peridot."

Peridot could only stare at Lapis as if she was an entirely new species she just discovered on this planet. "Er… huh?"

"You didn't guess we had a chat about some of this stuff before you reformed?" Bismuth asked her with a light chuckle. "We did get carried away this time, but you definitely dug deeper into us than I thought!"

Now Peridot just looked tired and annoyed. "Did you two seriously just put me through a _test?_ "

"Maybe you could call it that," Lapis said in a knowing, cryptic tone. Her tears dried, and she felt so relieved. "When I reformed, I felt helpless. I had no ideas to offer; no real plan. In all honesty, I really don't even want to participate in this mission. I wanted to be _done_ with Homeworld. We all agreed that in order for this operation to work, we would need a leader."

Peridot felt her pupils shrink; she couldn't believe it. She was _just_ _about_ to knock sense into the two to talk about a team leader… of course they stole her thunder _again_ _._

"Nothing I said was enough to convince Lapis to stay," Bismuth explained.

"For… various reasons," Lapis added. For just a fleeting moment, she looked _furious_ , genuinely so, before nodding to Bismuth to continue.

"Yes, but the point is I couldn't get through to her," Bismuth continued, shrugging off the flicker of fury. Either that, or she didn't notice. Peridot definitely did; it sent a chill that coursed throughout her body. "Not even _my_ moving speech about Steven could sway her. I have to admit, if you need a field commander, there's no one better for the task than me. But this kind of thing… I just didn't have it in me. That was Rose's expertise. What I could do, was convince her to stay here until you reformed. She told me if _you_ could make her reconsider, she'd cast her woes aside and join us. And maybe it's just me, Tiny, but I think you just succeeded where I failed."

"Wait, what? _WHAT?!_ " Peridot really was being tested without knowing it. Her ran her fingers through her hair, frazzling it it felt like her head was splitting open. Of course, all she was doing was giving herself split ends. She whipped around to face Lapis, who looked way to casual and serene to be real.

" _Lapis_ _!_ You didn't say anything about wanting to back out! Y-you weren't even hesitating!" Peridot pointed out, desperate to find some hole in Bismuth's testimony. "Tell me she's making that up!"

"I stopped hesitating when I saw you not hesitate even once," Lapis responded. "You always talked about how Homeworld was hunting you down because you directly disobeyed Yellow Diamond and called her a clod. I could see back then, the whole idea of returning to Homeworld now, after everything that happened… you'd rather be shattered on the spot. That's close enough to how I feel on the matter."

Peridot just quietly nodded. Internally, she felt so powerful all of a sudden.

"But the second you heard that Steven was in trouble… at first, I thought you somehow overlooked or it slipped your mind that we would be returning to Homeworld to do this. But… nothing. You were worried about _how_ to get there; never the fact that we were going there at all. It was secondary to you, your biggest fear… I didn't think it was possible to shove that aside so quickly."

While genuinely moved by Lapis' words, while trying her best not to choke up and let her friend finish, she added with a squeak, "Y-yeah! Uh-huh, that's… that's the primary phobia! How on _Earth_ could it be anything else…?"

Lapis smiled. It was hilarious to her, really, that Peridot could be so transparent at times. "Exactly. Sometimes, when we were together with the other Crystal Gems, it was like you were as close to being a human being that a gem possibly can. You really do put your heart into everything. I know I said you sucked as Garnet back when you, me and Connie were being Crystal Temps, but Peridot… believe me when I say you would make a fantastic leader one day."

It meant so much to hear those words. Peridot never expected them to come out of Lapis for sure. She tearfully nodded, acknowledging her former roommate's words before speaking up; Peridot thought she'd somehow lost her voice for a moment. "S-so that's it, huh… you all really wanted me to be the leader that badly…?"

"At this point, you gotta be!" Bismuth affirmed with a thumbs up. "Put me as head of this operation, and I guarantee we'll end up real quick in some risky Bismuth!"

Greg got the wordplay immediately and started cracking up. Peridot paused for a moment, as that sounded so familiar to her… oh right, it was a movie she watched. "I get it!" she cried out as she joined with Greg and Bismuth in the hearty laughter.

Lapis was not impressed. Whether or not she got the joke, it just bounced off of whatever shield she had. She crossed her arms, letting out a huff that loosened up a lock of her hair.

"Well, I'd vote for you, Peridot!" Greg added in once they got all their laughs out of their systems.

Peridot's lip quivered, as it had so many times already since she reformed. "I'm just used to there being some resistance when I offer to lead…" Her jovial tone wore off as the words sunk in. It wasn't some kind of elaborate joke now. She became a leader because these three individuals believed in her. The feeling reminded her of how she always believed in Steven, and always will. Now his hopes and prayers were in Peridot's hands. It was her responsibility to make sure he didn't make a grave mistake by passing his will on to them. It would take some insane level of planning to make this rescue a success… luckily, the Crystal Gem who did it best was on the case. Absolutely everything to the smallest detail needed to be perfect, she believed. The slightest miscalculation or logical misstep could end them all on the spot.

"We really needed this morale boost," Peridot acknowledged, looking to the others. "And for that, I thank all three of you. But it's time to get to work."

"Mission layout's simple enough, right?" Bismuth asked. "Find a vehicle to get to Homeworld, get _all_ our friends outta there, and get back home all in one piece." She paused for a brief moment. "So if we're gonna do this causing no ruckus at all if we can help it, what do you propose I do, Peri?"

"Simple: You will help me grab any scrap we can make use of from the Diamonds' crashed ships, I will give you the specs for a ship of our own, and you will build accordingly. Once we're in Phase 2, you'll suffice as the muscle of our group. I'm almost certain there will be obstacles that require brute force to bypass. Most importantly, self-defense. I'd be very surprised if we really could rescue Steven and the others right from under the Diamonds' noses, to be perfectly honest. So of course we'll resort to self-defense if necessary. I have the utmost confidence that you will protect us for this mission, Bismuth."

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Bismuth grinned at her boss before looking down at her work bench. "Gotta admit, I've never made a spaceship before. But heck, if I can make spires, armor, shields, and every kind of weapon under the sun, why not? I _love_ a good challenge."

With Bismuth satisfied, clear goals set ahead for her, Lapis quietly stepped forth to take her place.

"So what's up, Dot?" Lapis inquired; her tone dry. "Before the drama bomb, you were in the middle of telling me how my powers are nigh-on useless on today's Homeworld. You're not thinking of bumping me down to team mascot, are you?"

Just like that, Peridot's composure dropped as she puffed up her cheeks and growled right at Lapis. But Lapis just smirked; it was obviously the flustered whiny child kind of whine she was used to hearing from her former roommate, current… "superior."

"Why you-!" But instead of exploding in a hyperactive rage like before, she just turned her nose up at Lapis, crossing her arms while trying her hardest to look _so_ cool and sassy-but-classy. "Pumpkin has and always will be this team's mascot!" Peridot declared. "You dare commit sacrilege on this fledgling team by supplanting our lovable team mascot with y _ou?_ _!_ For shame!"

"What can I say? I'm a born rebel," Lapis answered. She rolled her eyes, then leaned over with her business face on. "You _do_ have a reason for me being here, right?"

"Oh, without a doubt!" Peridot quickly answered; she did admittedly feel awkward that she was in the middle of berating her friend before she found out it was all a test. "I'll run you through what I've got in mind. While we're still here, you'll be essential to making sure we get our ship made as quickly as possible. It's a collaborative effort; Bismuth builds it, I design and oversee the project, and you will be speeding up the process."

Lapis didn't quite follow. "Right. So… how am I making this faster for you?"

"Bismuth told me she's got her own workshop. It's called 'The Forge'." Peridot couldn't help but use air quotes to emphasize the name. "Real original, right?"

Already, Lapis felt herself getting bored. This was not lost on Peridot, who made the effort to discipline herself better. She was supposed to be serious now, wasn't she?

"A-anyway, it's right underneath a volcano, I think she said. She siphons the magma straight from their chambers and uses that to forge her weapons! She's quite productive, mostly due in part to the fact that she usually gets to skip the cooling process since heat of that magnitude doesn't affect her at all."

"She can just _touch_ it like that without burning her hand off?" Lapis looked a bit disturbed just thinking about it. Then again, it made sense. Being trapped underground with magma on all sides of you must be a Lapis Lazuli's worst nightmare. Or so Peridot assumed.

"She _bathes_ in the stuff and claims it's like a lukewarm shower," Peridot informed her. "That's well and good for her, but the rest of us can't handle that kind of heat. She'll have to adjust to letting the ship parts cool down; otherwise she's assembling the entire ship herself, and given that she just admitted to never building one before, I believe it's pertinent that we oversee her work before jetting off into the vacuum of space wouldn't you agree?"

"I get it," Lapis nodded, her smile finally returning. "We're right next to the ocean; she can mass-produce these parts I'll cool them all at once with a big wave."

"Ah, you'll need more than one wave," Peridot cut in. "It'll turn into a big ball of steam in a matter of seconds. Definitely don't touch the parts until steam stops coming out. I'd also avoid the steam whenever possible. I think you'll find this task to be much more challenging than how I'm making it out to be."

Gradually, Lapis was becoming impressed with how Peridot conducted herself. Part of her wishes she had been there to witness how Peridot and Steven saved the world from the Cluster, or when she landed the final blow on Jasper. Of course, the blue-hued gem held no illusions of Peridot changing permanently. But it the way she stepped up to take this role, despite her quirks and attitude still slipping in here and there… at least she knew when it was time to get serious and stay serious. If her appearance was concealed, Lapis never would have guessed it was a Peridot putting her in her place earlier.

"That'll make it interesting, I guess," Lapis conceded. "Maybe if I make the water really cold… it should cool down much more quickly."

"Might wanna double-check with Bismuth on that," Peridot advised. "I mean, you're not wrong, but from a purely scientific standpoint, I've known some metals become brittle if they freeze quickly. But I'm not the antiquated weapons specialist here, so I advise you seek a second opinion."

"I'll be sure to double-check," Lapis assured her. "So… about the lack of water on Homeworld…"

Peridot nodded. "Relatively simple solution: we bring our own water. You know, I've seen kids on Earth during the summer with these garish plastic toys that sort of look like weapons, only they fire water instead of incendiary rounds or lasers. They just… all fire at each other indiscriminately; the objective eludes me. Relevant to your situation, I saw one particular boy with a different type of water-spitting weapon. It looked like a heavier faux firearm; probably not fun to carry, but the payoff is that it fires off a _much_ bigger stream of water. I noticed a difference in the duration of his water spraying and virtually no pauses to reload. In a matter of a few Earth minutes, that kid was the lone dry survivor; everyone else was completely over-saturated!" Peridot very nearly let out a wicked laugh, because that was the one time she enjoyed watching human children engage in water-based combat, but she could see Lapis was waiting for her to get to the point.

"-So, how did that kid make a vague competition so one-sided, you might wonder. Well, I noticed his weaponry was attached to something on the kid's back. I later identified it as a container that held much more water than those piddly little chambers the other kid clods brought on their weapons. Now, I'm not suggesting you use something like _that_ , Lapis! Give me a little credit, now…"

"That look on your face says you really want to see me use one," Lapis accused; she sounded so sure about that, as if this wasn't the first time Peridot tried to rope her into doing something stupid after making it sound so amazing all day.

At that point, it seemed even Peridot knew trying to lie her way out of it would be a waste of time, so she simply laughed it off for a quick second before shifting the subject a bit. "I sort of envisioned you flying around using something like that to store water when we're on Homeworld," she said. Lapis felt like that took an eternity to get to the point. "Easy access, it can hold a lot, and it shouldn't be a burden to carry."

Lapis paused to consider the option. "It's not a bad idea in concept, though I'd prefer something that doesn't weigh me down too much. I'll try some things out."

"Hm…" Peridot nodded in agreement, yet there was still something else on her mind. "Maybe I should have brought this up sooner: Lapis, if you have a finite amount of water to work with, how much would you need to adequately fight? How diligent would you be in reusing a fixed amount of water at any given time, while wasting as little fluid as you can? How much of it can you carry at all times without it adversely affecting your combat or flight abilities?"

For a few moments, Lapis was silent, staring at her leader like she was some puzzle rigged to be impossible to figure out. Finally, she replied, "You really should have opened up with those questions, Peridot."

"Eheh… I'm still learning?" was all Peridot could offer as an excuse.

Lapis turned to leave; she was finally satisfied with Peridot's answers. "I guess you're not doing too bad for a first day," she offered as some sort of compliment. "You've had a lot thrown at you in a short amount of time, Peridot. You're sure you're really okay with leading the rescue effort?"

Just by being reminded that all of this was for the sake of a rescue mission, Peridot looked more emboldened than ever before. She cast her eyes to the sand, hands forming into shaking fists.

 _"I won't let you down, Steven…"_

"What was that?" It was still Lapis who had taken a few steps further away to begin her training. "Peridot…?"

"Hm? Huh?" Peridot tried her best not to look exhausted, but as usual, she fooled no one. The sun had set over the horizon. It felt like just a second ago the sun was still up for her… "Oh! It's nothing, Lapis! I _totally_ _swear_ I'm not gonna fall asleep or anything!" She forced out a laugh, as if that would throw off the scent. "Because then I'd be like you, wouldn't I?"

Lapis considered prodding further, but decided against it. She got the answers she needed to prepare for a fight for her friends stuck on Homeworld; now she had no excuse to kill time. "Their house is vacant now; did you realize that? Maybe you can steal another gem's bedroom for the night." She smirked to herself, and just before flying off without looking back, she made sure to make her words be heard loud and clear by her diminutive friend. "But knowing you, you'd be too freaked out to go through with it, right?"

With that, she took off into the air and smirked when she heard the disbelieving screeches of rage below her.

"Everything okay over there, Peridot?"

The diminutive gem froze and went dead silent, only to relax when she turned to see Steven's father. "Oh, it's just you. I'm… surprised you haven't left yet."

"I just can't bring myself to this time," Greg confessed. "Usually I'm good about keeping myself out of Steven's gem business, but this… it's different, you know?"

"Tell me about it," Peridot dully agreed, staggering a little, but ultimately caught herself before she fell.

Greg noticed her falter a bit, then gestured over to where he had made a fire a bit further up the beach. "C'mon, kiddo. You've had a lot on your plate today; a rest by the fire will do you good."

"I didn't eat anything today…" Peridot weakly rebutted, but had no qualms about joining Greg by the fire.

Greg just chuckled; he should've figured that's one Earth expression she hadn't come across yet. "What a day, huh? Wedding, big epic battle…"

"Poof, official Crystal Gem status is official _again_ , Steven's gone, now I'm a leader."

"Exactly," said Greg. "I got a feeling you'll look back on this day years down the line and think better of it then. This could be the start of something bigger for you."

"Feelings don't foretell the future," Peridot muttered. She came off as a real stick in the mud whenever she got this tired. Truth be told, Peridot couldn't remember the last time she exhausted herself to this extent. Then again, she never made this much of an effort to contain her compulsive need to enjoy her free life on Earth until today. It took sheer strength and willpower to tone herself down and not go on a complete power trip now that she had officially become an authority figure.

For all the times she falsely claimed to be the leader of the Crystal Gems, Peridot never dreamed she could really become one. Her kind was never meant to stand above anybody and never climb the ranks to achieve greatness. By default, Cut-5XG had declared herself the greatest Peridot that had ever lived. That was one boast Peridot could always make without being challenged for it. Now that she really thought about it, it wasn't that much of a meaningful achievement.

"Maybe not," Greg considered as he took out a cup and a thermos. "But I'm pretty confident you'll feel a lot better in the near future if you take my offer of some hot cocoa."

Sure enough, Peridot found herself being offered a beverage before she had time to process the man had pouring the cup for her a few seconds ago. She accepted it without hesitation and took her time to sip it down. "Wow, thanks… I like it."

Greg nodded. "You look like you're perking up already." He turned his head and took notice to Lion suddenly appearing and settling into the gap between him and the lone remaining gem in the area. "Oh, hey, Lion. You're tuckered out too, huh?"

Similarly, Peridot felt something tapping her side, but paid it no mind. But suddenly, Peridot's arm shot forward on reflex as Pumpkin startled her by jumping on her lap. "Y-yikes!" She had just barely managed to keep a couple of fingers on her cup to keep it from spilling. Luckily for Peridot, she was close to finishing her drink, anyway. "Oh, _Pumpkin!_ " She immediately sat her cup down firmly on the sand before devoting attention to her neglected pet. "I'm so sorry! How long have I been ignoring you today?!" Given the way it all played out, it was safe to say Pumpkin felt pretty left out for most of it.

She hugged Pumpkin, but continued to feel pangs of guilt somewhere in her body. "Aw, you're so freezing cold!" She sniffled when she felt Pumpkin still shivering even in her embrace. "H-hey, I'm sorry! How many times are you gonna make me say that today, and _why aren't you warming up?!_ "

Peridot grumbled, then took notice to the cup she put down just a minute ago. "Oh, I get it now." She picked it up and dangled it in front of Pumpkin's face. The sentient winter squash yapped at the sight of the cup. "Emotional blackmail, is it?! You're gonna guilt-trip me until I give you the rest of this. You seriously didn't think I'd catch on? I am a _genius!_ "

Ultimately, she sighed and fed Pumpkin the rest of her hot chocolate. That seemed to satisfy her pet, though she didn't get much warmer even from that. "Oh, for the love of-" She looked to her left and noticed Lion's presence for the first time. Now she understood what Pumpkin wanted. "Hey, Lion?" Relief fell upon her when Lion opened an eye and looked up to the gem addressing him. "H-hey, hi," we offered and awkward wave before picking Pumpkin up off her lap. "Do you mind…?"

This must not have been the first time this happened; Lion quickly consented in the form of a snort. Peridot carefully set Pumpkin over Lion's mane; the little creature automatically made itself comfortable on a spot and quickly went to sleep. Lion himself drifted right back off to dreamland himself. "We appreciate it," Peridot quietly thanked Lion before looking up at the night sky before she let out a sigh. Seeing something at the corner of her eye, again to the left, she turned and jumped out of her seat for a split second before fumbling around to calm back down.

It was just Greg, offering his thermos for a hot cocoa refill. Peridot couldn't refuse; she didn't know why or how, but the human told the truth when he said it would perk her up. Although she still must have been a little dazed to so quickly forget his presence the moment Pumpkin jumped in her lap, Peridot couldn't deny she was in a much better place now; much more at peace. While she sipped down her second serving of cocoa, the bright powder pink of Lion's mane drew her attention a bit. This time, it served as a reminder of why she sat here; why she was too scatterbrained, even by her own standards. She looked to the stars, trying to hide her bitter annoyance to Greg. "This is so unfair."

"Hm? Everything okay?" Unlike the gems, Greg was content letting Peridot talk only when she wanted to. He knew it was important to give her some degree of comfort during down time; some space especially, since she'd have to answer to everybody at all times once they were ready to leave Earth.

"Uh, sorry…" Peridot wasn't sure what she just apologized for, but she shook her head and decided there was no harm in being honest with Greg. Perhaps the real reason fate brought him together with this specific trio of gems was to give a way to offer Peridot a bit of therapy. "It just hit me how much of a tease it is that Lion is here," she grumbled. "Did you know he's capable of reaching the _Moon_ from here in a matter of seconds? I was along for that ride."

Greg was taken aback by this. "Geez, I don't think Steven ever told me he did. Aw, man… did he really go to the Moon without ever telling me?"

"It was his first trip. I was there… we needed coordinates for the Cluster." Thinking back on it, Peridot realized how insensitive she had been to all of them that trip. Her shallow, misguided adoration for Yellow Diamond was painful to relive. It was hard to live down recounting the enthusiasm in her voice when she first saw what the Earth _could_ have been, so oblivious back then as to how anyone could have considered that project a bad thing.

Really, the only interesting thing Peridot could glean from that memory was her equally insensitive criticism of Rose Quartz's methods. Her words hurt and angered each and every Crystal Gem, Steven included. But it was almost humorous in hindsight, since everyone else in Peridot's life had recently been making a big deal about Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond being one and the same. Peridot could hardly believe back when she was first told about the wedding that it all started by Garnet (still the _cool_ one of the group in her eyes) taking that news so badly that it destabilized and broke her fusion. Back when she gave Rose a very sarcastic thank-you for dooming the planet, and even when she told Steven right to his face that his mother's actions really didn't save the world at all in the long run… she wasn't wrong. With Rose's deception exposed, by comparison Peridot came out of that smelling like roses in hindsight.

"Ah, I think I got it. You know Lion can take you all the way to the Moon that fast, and it's hard not to wanna think he could be taking you to Homeworld right now." Turns out Greg wasn't wrong, either.

"I-… I know there's a slim-to-nil chance of that actually happening," Peridot was quick to make that clear. "Lion really exhausted himself taking us to the Moon. That distance is smaller than a _stupid_ grain of sand compared to the distance between Earth and Homeworld! So of course I'm not taking a risk like that. Believe me, there are so many quicker alternatives we could be taking right now if they weren't _all_ smashed to bits."

Oh, those were the days. Back when the Crystal Gems routinely trashed everything Peridot had to her name.

"Well, try and focus instead how much of a good thing it is that Lion's with us," Greg urged. "We forgot to tell you it's because of Lion that Steven's message reached us at all. I'll spare you the details, but I guess one way to put it is… well, Lion was the bottle carrying Steven's message as it traveled across the ocean." It actually seemed like an apt metaphor in Greg's mind considering how the message was actually received, but…

"Don't tell me that's actually a thing here!" Peridot took it literally, of course. "There's no way that's a legit mode of communication!"

"Uh, think of it more like a fictional media thing, or a myth!" Greg quickly assured her. "A-anyway, we all owe Lion for letting us receive the mission. Maybe he'll come in handy on Homeworld."

Peridot snapped her fingers, like a light bulb just illuminated inside her head. "Of _course_ _!_ Why didn't I think of that before?! If we can get Lion to Homeworld, all we need to do is land in a secluded place, then just tell Lion to take us to Steven! I could skip _all_ of that elaborate subterfuge I've been planning out in my head!" She turned to smile genuinely at Greg. "Wow, I'm glad I decided to draft you into my team! Who would've thought the best ideas we have to succeed here are coming from the token human of my crew?"

"Oh, so you _are_ taking me along," Greg realized, both happy to have contributed genuine safer alternatives for the mission and nervous that the ambiguity of his involvement in this rescue effort was no longer there.

The young gem wasn't sure how to make of this reaction. "I was under the impression you wanted to join the mission earlier today. Was I mistaken?"

"A-actually, not at all," Greg explained. "There's some info I'd like to share that could help the mission, but I'd prefer to wait until everybody meets up here again. Do you know when they're coming back?"

"Bismuth…" Peridot winced, remembering she had made a folly. "Crud. I said I'd help her collect scrap from those Diamond ships hours ago. If I had to guess, she's already starting to prep some building material at her little "Forge". I still need to decide what model to give her guidelines for, or else we risk missing out on a day's worth of work."

Greg simply nodded. "And what about Lapis?"

" _Urgh_ , I should've made her give me an ETA before she flew off," Peridot's sense of peace began to boil away. She was still making mistakes at every juncture. "I told her to hone her water skills so she'll have an idea of how much of a fixed amount of water we'll need to bring with us on the ship." She just realized she skipped an integral part of the explanation that would make this far easier for Steven's father to understand. "Oh, right. My proposal for Lapis coping with the lack of usable water to fight with was to bring some of our own. But you've seen the kinds of things Lapis likes to make with her power, right?"

"Ohhh yeah," Greg groaned, remembering the size of the giant water arm that inadvertently cost him a boat. "You could fill three public pools with that much water."

"It goes without saying she will need to downsize and revise her strategy. The longer we stay here on Earth, the more I'm going to worry about everyone. There's still so much I need to take into account as far as possible roadblocks go! Honestly, I have a hard time believing Steven entrusted his fate to us without taking into account that he could be putting his life in _my_ hands! I never gave him a single reason to believe I work well under pressure… there's no way he would have wanted me in control of this operation!"

All too familiar words, Greg noticed. He was more than glad to offer his input, "Just a second, there. Steven and me; we've always been in tune. There are some things that even the Crystal Gems can't give Steven advice on… usually guy stuff and human stuff. And if he was ever worried or curious about the Crystal Gems but wasn't ready to talk to them in person, then he could always turn to me."

That was something Greg could always be proud of, and why he'd never think he would ever become irrelevant in Steven's life.

"And believe it or not, especially back when you were still new to Earth, Steven liked talking to me about you a lot. That was back when the others didn't really trust you; I was a valuable neutral party back in those days."

Peridot raised an eyebrow at that statement. "Neutral party? Wasn't your first impression of me that time I shoved you off the barn roof?"

Greg laughed out loud as he remembered that moment. The petite gem couldn't fathom how that was funny. Well, for her it was kind of funny. But had Garnet not been there to make the save, she was certain their first "meeting" would be devoid of any humor. "Ah, that's all in the past. Garnet vouched for you, and thinking back on it like that, it's just, y'know, funny. When I think about experiments, usually I think about some really creepy lab tests with a mass of dudes in white coats talking all weird. Pushing me off a roof just to see if I could fly? That's Sitcom 101!"

"Hm…" Peridot was following along, but she didn't know where Greg intended to go with this. At least she knew what sitcoms were now - and based on what she could recollect of the few series she did catch glimpses of, she could see the analogy.

"But seriously, when it comes to being given a chance to lead the team, I'd think Steven would be one of your biggest advocates, Peridot."

"Completely illogical," Peridot refuted. "On what basis do you found that thought of yours on?"

"You'd be surprised, but a lot of what you've been saying tonight, and the way you've been handling everything… I see a lot of him in you." That was certainly something Peridot never thought she'd hear from anyone. "Still so young - by gem standards, anyway - and I bet Homeworld is the last place you want to be right now…"

Peridot sighed; her gaze fixed up towards the sky. She appeared to be looking for something up there. "Yeah, doesn't that figure. I did everything I could to find a way off this planet once I got stranded here, and I was desperate enough to kidnap your offspring as a last resort. So I gave up on it, and once I'm finally comfortable living life as _earthling_ , now… this." It was obvious these ironic twists had been grating on Peridot since she learned about the stakes of this mission.

"But if it's really gotten you shaken up, you could've fooled me," Greg pointed out. "The rest of us didn't have a clue where to even start; you've been handing out plans for everybody right away. You've assigned a big job to everybody to prepare for this while the ship gets built. Between Bismuth wanting to blow up everything and everyone in her path to get to Steven, and just getting Lapis to agree to come along at all… do you really think Steven wouldn't want you to guide us?"

When he put it like that, Peridot couldn't think of a real counter-argument. "I suppose I see where you are coming from," she conceded. "Though that reminds me… I haven't really given you a task yet."

"I was just waiting until you were ready to tell me," Greg assured her. "I'm not gonna pressure you. Besides, I know I'm kind of limited in what I can do for you guys. I know I'll still be a liability more than anything."

" _N-no_ _!_ Don't ever think that!" Peridot suddenly begged. She sounded so desperate to make Greg see he was integral as any of the other team members. "Really, even if you didn't want to come with us, I'd still make you."

Greg was glad he already consented of his own free will, because that statement concerned him. "You need me with you guys that badly?"

"I'm sure you've noticed there isn't much in the way of team synergy like there is with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl," the newly-anointed leader pointed out. "You seemed like a pretty good mediator earlier. But you're not wrong about your limitations: even though you're coming along, I don't plan on you leaving the ship once we land on Homeworld. I guess the appropriate title for your role in this team is _Chauffeur_."

"Ah, like the people who drive limos for rich people," Greg understood… sort of. "I don't mind, but I haven't exactly got a pilot's license…"

"Irrelevant," Peridot declared. "For most of the trip, we'll be on auto-pilot anyway. The basics will be easy for you to learn. I know it's not exactly a glamorous role for the mission we're undertaking, but you're going to be crucial for our escape."

"How do you figure?"

The pensive Peridot chose her next words carefully. "I'm bringing you along because we're so short-handed with abilities that don't exactly gel that well for a cohesive rescue effort. It would be _the_ _worst_ if we all made it back to the ship before getting captured, but fail to escape because our getaway vehicle was not prepared ahead of time. It's also crucial to have someone guarding the ship at all times after we disembark. If anyone finds our ship, it's highly likely they'll commandeer it." She noticed Greg looked more and more fearful of this possibilities the longer she went on; he definitely needed some positive reinforcement.

"Listen: I'm very well aware how limited you humans are. But if you can just keep the enemy locked out, you won't have to fight at all. I can give you a few easy-to-use tools so that you can better defend yourself in a worst-case scenario." Peridot sighed as she looked down at the sleeping Pumpkin nuzzled into Lion's mane. "Against my better judgment, I've decided Pumpkin is coming, too."

"Are you for real?! It's crazy enough that I'm coming along!"

Peridot looked to Greg; her focused, unflinching eyes told the musician she was being real with him indeed. "Two simple reasons… and you sort of fall into that category, too. Once we depart for Homeworld, we're leaving Earth completely undefended. We're the only ones left in this group, and I can't afford to leave Pumpkin all alone. I've projected that this will be a relatively short mission, but there's always a chance something will delay us. And… I don't want her to think I've abandoned her."

"I-… I mean, I _get_ it, but what's that got to do with-"

"I hate to give you more reason be be terrified of what we're doing, but the odds of our mission succeeding? It's slim. Slim in that it will be a true miracle if this plan goes through completely unhindered." Peridot hated having to talk about this, but the realist in her didn't want to delude her teammates into thinking this task would be anything less than nigh-on impossible that will require 100% of their efforts to succeed. "It's safe to assume we'll be shattered when we're caught. And if it comes to that… _ooh_ , I'm such a selfish clod for saying this, but…!" She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. "If we all fail… and we're all sentenced to execution, and there's nothing we can do to get out of it… I… I kind of want all of us to be together when that happens."

Greg was stunned to hear this.

"I guess it's okay if you hate me for saying this, but… I want us all together in our last moments. So the last thing we'll ever think and feel is how much of an honor it was to be part of this team… part of this family."

A couple of minutes of silence followed this. Peridot kept her eyes glued to the fire, as she was certain Greg was only looking at her with disgust.

"Oh, and I forgot…" Peridot muttered; she really didn't feel comfortable talking again after such a morbid confession, but it felt like a detail Greg should be aware of. "For non-sentimental purposes, Pumpkin can guard you with the ship. I know it's not much, but I guarantee if she has the element of surprise, no one on Homeworld will know what she is or how to deal with her, and you can use their confusion as an opening to dispatch the enemy."

The last thing Peridot expected to get was a hug, but somehow she got it. Though confused and flustered, she didn't resist it or try to escape. This was the opposite reaction she expected out of Greg. " _Gyah_ _!_ What in the-?!"

"You really are a gem after my son's heart, you know that?!" Greg sounded oddly ecstatic and possibly on the verge of tears. "Peridot, don't you dare think you're not up for this job ever again! You are, beyond a doubt, the heart of this team!"

Oddly enough, Peridot's sentiments seemed to be felt by both Bismuth and Lapis. Both paused their work and felt a comforting warmth that felt similar to a human beating heart, before the feeling dissipated moments later. Each Crystal Gem smiled, and though they weren't entirely sure what brought about such a sensation, they knew there was only one individual on this planet that held such empathetic intensity. Projecting feelings that strong from a distance, though… Lapis and Bismuth did find that highly unusual given the natural limitations of their leader. But that only inspired them to work even harder.

"The heart…" Peridot quietly echoed. "Y-you can't be serious; I'm nowhere _near_ the kind of heart that Steven is. Since we know he's a Diamond hybrid now… I guess a lot of his more… er, esoteric abilities make sense in hindsight. B-but that's all the more reason why it's inappropriate and inaccurate to claim my limited abilities come anywhere _near_ Steven's!"

"Aw, and here I thought you'd be the one gem who wouldn't go on about Rose like everyone else has," Greg mumbled, a bit downtrodden.

"Don't be mistaken, Sir Greg Paternal Unit Universe!"

"–just call me Greg."

"Wh-whatever!" Peridot still didn't fight the hug, but she felt her fingers fidgeting again, as they often did when she was in shock. "I couldn't care less about the whole Rose-Diamond-Pink thing! This is purely about Steven - I can't even imagine what else he's been able to do since he left!"

"Well…" Greg stared up at the sky. "It sure didn't stop him from getting into trouble up there, you know. I doubt he would've sent the SOS if these "diamond" powers were doing anything to help.

"I-it's the principle of the thing," Peridot tried to rationalize. "Diamonds are at the very top of the gem hierarchy. B-but Peridots, especially Era 2s like me… we're at rock bottom. We emerge as technicians, and stay that way until the day we shatter. We're never meant to climb the ranks or become anything memorable. A Diamond's power has no limit; I barely have any to speak of."

"Hm…" Greg released his hold on Peridot, who sat back down looking extremely conflicted and confused. "I'll throw a hypothetical at you: if _Steven_ told you that you had no limit to your potential, and he really believed you could be on par with the Diamonds one day, how would you react?"

Peridot quietly growled as she pictured the scenario in her head. She really could picture Steven doing exactly what Greg described. "I would call him the biggest clod that ever existed," she said with bitter certainty. "I'd throw Steven's stuff at him, just to get him to shut up. His bubble would deflect that eventually. Then the little twerp would start hugging me, saying all these sickeningly nice things to win me over… I'd break out of the hold and try to distance myself as far as I can, because I remember then…"

Greg smiled, clearly endeared to this hypothetical story.

"I can't get myself to stop believing in him," Peridot confessed. "The first time I trusted him, that was the point of no return. If I can't believe in myself when he clearly believes in me… it feels like I'm insulting him. I can't do that to Steven… so I'm not going to fight it. If he believes in me, I'll vicariously believe in myself through him. Even if I don't agree… but right now, lacking confidence is the last thing this team needs." Peridot seemed to regain her strength and resolve towards the end of her statement. "If we're going to rescue Steven and the rest, we need to be confident so we'll be able to perform the tasks assigned to us flawlessly."

"Sorry if it sounds like I'm prodding, but I've noticed every time you nearly went off the deep end today, you sobered up in an instant when you were reminded of something," Greg said with a hint of caution in his voice.

"The mission," Peridot immediately realized.

"But it's more than the fact that it's just a mission and you were chosen to lead the charge, right?"

"Steven gave us this mission," the youthful gem recalled. "His life is in my hands… I can't let him down. I _won't_ let him down…"

Greg stood up from where he sat; the fire was beginning to die out. "And you won't. None of us will," he assured his tiny superior. "Good talk, Peridot. I'm glad I helped you out with your plans. Just remember you can always come and talk to me anytime when you're feeling down." He let out a yawn just then. "I think I'll turn in for the night. I'll make sure to get a week's worth of food tomorrow for the journey, okay?"

"Fantastic idea," Peridot affirmed. She also got to her feet. "I thank you for your invaluable input, uh… _Greg_ ," she cringed as she said that name out loud. "Augh, that is so dull." She looked sternly to the adult man towering over her and pointed to his face. "I _must_ nickname you, Paternal Unit Universe. I will make a note of that right now and be sure to have a better name for you the next time we have a conversation by a fire."

Greg laughed as Peridot brought out her tablet, making a digital sticky note attached to her desktop to serve as a reminder.

"Hey, just a suggestion, but maybe you should get some rest too, you know?" the man advised. "I know gems don't really function like humans, but you're living proof that even gems can get overworked and worn out. You're the head of the Beach House now; go sleep wherever you want; I won't tell a soul."

Peridot smirked as Greg winked at her. "Funny you should say that. I wanted to search through the house to see if there's any artifact lying around that could help us out anyway, and Lapis dared me to sleep somewhere besides the bathroom for once… sounds like I have no reason _not_ to raid the Crystal Gems' home base."

"Just try not to break everything is all I ask," Greg requested. "Odds are I'll be footing the bill for replacements, y'know?"

"I promise only to try," Peridot swore, giving Greg a salute. She eyed the Beach House; the entrance to the Crystal Gems' Temple, and scrambled over to it.

Pumpkin was plenty satisfied to sleep the night in Lion's mane by the fire on the beach. Greg retreated to his van. Bismuth was hard at work in her sanctuary, smelting pieces of the outer layers of both Yellow and Blue Diamond's ships.

She didn't expect this, but Bismuth was more than amused when the brightly colorful outer plating pieces begin to mix into another hue entirely as the pieces became one. That gave Bismuth a brilliant idea, but she'd keep it to herself and just focus on making more in the meantime. It's not like she had been given any design guidelines to actually build ship parts yet…

Lapis was hard at work further away on an uninhabited island; she loathed to admit it, but Peridot was right. She had never been in a situation where she had to fight where water sources were scarce. At least, nothing in recent memory. She was so accustomed to squashing opponents in an instant using obscene amounts of water to do so, and Lapis knew very well she couldn't possibly bring that much with her to Homeworld.

It wasn't too hard honing techniques using much less water than usual, but the aquatic gem struggled with her instinctive urge to just pick up more water from the ocean right next to her once she ran out of what she trained with. She wasn't accustomed to going out of her way to recycle the water she used, and she needed to adjust to trying to draw the water back to her as much as possible after every attack. But Lapis didn't falter; now that Peridot had convinced her to come along despite her reservations, she couldn't bear to let everyone down just because it was annoying and tedious to limit the amount of water she could use offensively. The less water the Crystal Gems needed to carry along for their mission, the easier it would be to fit in their imprisoned friends on the way back.

Peridot, at that time, had finished her preliminary scanning of the beach house and now stood before the Temple Gate. The little green technician giggled to herself as she considered her options. "It was _stupid_ easy to break in here before," Peridot recalled. "Now whose room should I claim for the night…?" Then she smirked. "Of course; gotta pick the one who'd be the most upset about it: _Pearl's room!_ "

She lit up her gem over Pearl's symbol, still mischievously chuckling to herself before realizing that, unlike last time, nothing happened. " _Rrrghgh_ , come on! It worked like this before!"

Then it dawned on her: there was a difference. Back then, Peridot had her limb enhancers and much more immediate ways to hack into doors. Now that they were no more, it would take much more effort to force the door open.

"Hmph; I bet she reset the code or blacklisted me while they trapped me in the bathroom," Peridot deduced. "Pearl _would_ do that… alright, let's try Amethyst's. They told me her dwelling is an abomination to all gemkind, but _I'll_ be the judge of that. She is a Shorty Squad member, after all. We are still, as she would put it, "tight"."

She tried again, but again, the door did not respond and no lights activated. "Aw, _come on!_ This can't be real!"

But it was. "You know what? Forget that," Peridot decided. "She's the reason I can't access these doors like I used to. Tossing my limb enhancers into the ocean… just… _really_ _?_ Hmph." The little gem that could would not stop there. "Okay, then! Garnet! She's still cool; she has to be cool with everything since she just had a wedding!"

The theory was soon debunked; Garnet's room was just as unresponsive.

 ** _"I HATE YOU!_** ** _"_**

Peridot exploded at the door, letting her rage and agitation flow freely with her growling while she banged against the antiquated barrier.

Luckily, Peridot's punches may as well have been kitten strikes, as her little fit of rage left no marks on the door. Once she was tired of channeling her anger, Peridot stomped away from the gate.

She did turn around just before running back and delivered a final kick to the Temple Gate, but all that did was give Peridot a sore leg. Of course, Peridot noticed there were more symbols on the door than there were Crystal Gems living in this residence, but since she was locked out by three in a row already, it was safe to assume the original Crystal Gems deactivated their gate while they were gone.

"So much for that!" Peridot threw up her hands and walked away for good this time. She was a very sore loser and absolutely hated having to give up. "Guess I'll have to show Lapis tomorrow so she'll know I'm not making it up," she grumbled as she approached the lounge of the house, and familiar small ladder a little ways off caught her eye.

"Oh, _right_ ," she just remembered, and felt like a clod for letting it slip her mind. Peridot cast her gaze upwards to find the little area above the others known as Steven's room. How could she forget? This was where she hid under the cover of darkness to kidnap Steven.

She couldn't remember ever getting the chance to enjoy this bed. She noticed a TV to her other side that was a relic even by human standards, then took notice to the Dolphin console on the floor a well as the controllers. She crawled onto the mattress, doing her best to avoid disturbing the stuffed animals.

Stuck between the headboard and pillows was a photograph of Connie. Peridot plucked it out and took a close look. A sobering sadness took over; she so easily forgot Connie was a prisoner on Homeworld too, just like Steven.

She placed the photo back where she found it, stifling a sniffle. Greg was right about this rescue mission keeping the leader Peridot grounded whenever she faltered. But he knew, Lapis knew, and Bismuth had correctly suspected it was more than that. It was really Steven Universe who brought her subconscious back to Earth when it tried to float away. That same boy, even when he wasn't physically with them, urged the leader to dry her tears and stay on track. He stopped a tangent dead in its tracks. When the stress and self-doubt of Peridot's position became too much, Steven was there in spirit to purge the gem's mind of those toxic notions.

While she laid on the mattress, trying to get herself to sleep, Peridot's eyes opened wide as she felt her subconscious accept the truth of her motivation. The problem became clear: Steven would only randomly come to mind to calm her down. Either that or it needed to be triggered by someone saying his name. What she needed was something tangible; something she could take out at any time and cure herself of the jitters.

She glanced back up at the Connie photo and had an idea. Peridot rolled off the bed and started to dig around underneath Steven's bed. " _Nyahah_ _!_ Got it!" The gem plopped herself out from under the bed; her arms latched around a giant binder. It was nearly three-quarters her size, but it was relatively light.

Peridot hopped back on the bed and cracked open the binder, lip quivering into a heartfelt smile as she saw what was inside.

"This is exactly what I need to get through this."

* * *

The following morning, the Crystal Gems all assembled at the same spot on the beach, each having a refreshed, renewed sense of purpose. It was just a little after dawn; Bismuth was in fact carrying some of the pieces she smelted last night and brought them to her workbench. Lapis now wore a medium-sized pouch around her hips, sliding to the right side. It was the same kind of container used for any human crazy enough to traverse a desert. Greg hadn't gotten his supplies just yet (the stores weren't open this early), but he did bring his guitar along. He figured it had no practical purpose to the mission, but figured it would boost morale as the other gems would work tirelessly throughout the day.

Peridot was the last to join; she wasn't used to sleeping, really. She carried one of her ship designs and had some basic tools she found inside the house in her other hand.

"Hey, 'bout time you showed up, fearless leader!" Bismuth greeted/teased. "I got some samples to show you. You decided on what kinda ship we're making, right?"

"Y-yeah, sorry for the delay," Peridot apologized and handed over the specs for the ship they would soon save their friends with. "I settled on this one; adequate size to fit us, our supplies, and everyone we're taking home with us. We'll be in Homeworld within a few hours. And if our performance is optimal, we should be able to fully construct the ship in under two days." Peridot nearly walked away before remembering something, and turned around bushing with embarrassment. "O-oh, and I apologize for not accompanying you last night. I ended up having unscheduled consultations with… pretty much all of you, actually."

"No worries, Peri," Bismuth assured, not hesitating to give her new leader a pardon. "It kinda worked out because I can surprise you now. I'm thinkin' this should be our ship's outer shell, right?"

Peridot inspected these unusual smelt lumps that had a somewhat familiar finish to them. "Wait a second… isn't this the outer plating for the Diamonds' ships? You actually made building material of of that…! But… hm." She looked up at Bismuth; her eyes already nearly sparkling in delight. "This color _is_ divine… but why is it like that? Does intense heat change the color?"

"Oho, better than that!" Bismuth was so proud of herself; she was waiting all night to talk about this. "I used outer plates from both Yellow _and_ Blue's ships. Once they mixed together…"

 _"_ _It changed to green!_ _"_ Peridot squealed. "I had no idea pigments could mix in smelting!"

"Normally, it doesn't," Bismuth affirmed. She had a big smile on her face; she can tell she made Peridot's day already. "But this _is_ from the Diamonds' ships. When I saw that last night, I just realized… you know how we can _really_ tell the Diamonds to take this job and shove it? We'll pilfer their tech and taint their iconic colors with the color of Peridot!"

Peridot's eyes grew wider and wider, as did her pupils. They sparkled with awe and she could barely speak properly; she was too busy ogling this miracle of experimental smelting. In a split second, Peridot leaped over to Bismuth and hugged her around the waist. Given how large and sturdy the veteran was compared to her miniature captain, Peridot's pounce did not knock her down. All the same, she laughed along and let Peridot bask in the moment.

 _"_ _Bismuth, I officially love you now_ _!"_ This was more than Peridot ever could have hoped for. Her ship would actually be stylish, represent her, _and_ mock the Diamonds all at once.

"Hah! Happy to serve, my Peridot!" Bismuth joked; she certainly didn't expect the young gem to react _this_ well, but perhaps it was a sign of good fortune. "Did you know in Earth culture, green is the color of luck?"

"I actually did not know that!" Peridot exclaimed while releasing her hold on Bismuth. "So you're suggesting our ship will have good fortune?"

Bismuth chuckled at Peridot's childlike wonder. "With any luck, that might just happen!" That elicited some laughs from Peridot and Greg. It sounded like a snort came from Lapis, but she stifled it almost quickly enough to cover it completely. Just almost. "So, now that I got an idea of what we're making here, you gonna tag along with me to get more scrap from the ships? You might be able to salvage a control panel or a steering mechanism, but it's not completely safe in there. Sounds like a herd of insects."

 _"_ _Robonoids!_ _"_ Peridot exclaimed with joy. "Oh, I _need_ to see this! If I can salvage enough of them, we might get this done by tomorrow morning! _Ooh_ , if I can harvest their binding gel, we'll be set! I-I could actually repair a Homeworld Warp Pad! We could-"

"Perhaps stick to your plan," Lapis dryly advised. "If we fix that, there will be no escape because the enemy will warp right behind us."

" _Nnrrgh_ … good point," Peridot conceded. Being brought down from her excitement. It just dawned on her that she's been acting like a child at her birthday party since they assembled here. "Um, Bismuth, hold that thought," she requested in a gentler tone before the lead gem turned her attention to her former roommate. "I see you acquired a new accessory, Lapis. Now, progress report."

"Nice try, but you're not fooling anyone," Lapis taunted. "I'm doing a test run with this pouch right now. I'll admit, it's… very frustrating to conserve and reuse the water when there's an ocean right next to me. You know how much water I'm used to using for anything."

Peridot nodded in agreement. "Indeed. The ocean is clearly an unnecessary distraction. I recommend training inland, far away from any body of water. I believe you'll get a better idea of how it will feel like when we're on Homeworld. I do hope you won't need to use it at all, but…"

"Wishful thinking, I know," Lapis grumbled. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind supervising the training so I can get some more immediate feedback?"

That crushing pressure within Peridot began to resurface. She winced a bit before speaking up. "I believe I need to set up an official schedule; you want me to watch your water works and Bismuth wants me to collect scrap for the ship. I can't be in two places at once, and I've got my own tasks that must be fulfilled."

"Oh…" Lapis understood, a bit downtrodden.

"No big deal," Bismuth assured. "I can manage on my own, so–"

Peridot smirked. "Actually, I just had a quick collaborative project we should do immediately. The beach will look like a trash heap, but we need to save all the time we can going from place to place."

Bismuth just blinked. "You talkin' about gettin' that other ship flung over here from the other side?"

"We have just the right combination of powers to make that happen!" Peridot proclaimed, though she had serious doubts her power could affect something so big. It wasn't that long ago that Peridot was able to levitate trucks with her powers… and even then, she couldn't push those too high up and it took nearly all of her energy to maintain the levitation. "What we need to do is- _nyaaaaaugh!_ "

Peridot felt the ground rumble with the loudest thud she had ever heard, followed up with an average wave of water that rushed through the entire area. It was almost deep enough to reach her bosom, which freaked her out a bit for some reason. And Lapis couldn't help but take notice to poor little Peridot flailing in relatively calm water (more so than what Lapis usually conjures) with her hands fixated on keeping her body above the big star on her uniform from getting wet. She had never seen this kind of behavior… but she opted to save it to ask about while getting some work done.

Once the water receded, Peridot's arms dropped down.. and she looked so annoyed. "Thanks for waiting for my _signal_ , you two."

"Oh, sorry! Guess I just got a little too excited over how great of an idea that was. No more traveling halfway across the island for scrap, now! Good thinkin' Peridot!" It just seemed impossible to get mad at Bismuth. Especially after that pleasant surprise…

"You know your powers aren't ready for something like that, Peridot," Lapis reminded her friend once she made landfall again. "You still have limitations; that's all there is to it."

That drew a tired sigh out of Peridot. "You always know how to lighten up the mood, Lapis."

Now that both of the Diamond ships were right next to their base of operations, Bismuth couldn't help herself; she approached the pile and started gathering scrap right away.

"Just focus on what your real strengths, Peridot." Lapis walked past her without so much as a glance. She stopped briefly. "It was a really good idea to do this."

For once, Peridot felt flattered. But she stumbled over to reach Lapis once she saw the watery wings and her stance that indicated she was about to fly away. "Wait, _wait_ _!_ Not yet, Lapis!"

Lapis let out a sigh of her own as she saw Peridot from the corner of her eye, rushing over and stumbling repeatedly. She turned around just in time to see Peridot fully trip over and splat face-first into the sand. Admittedly, Lapis was glad she waited to see that.

Peridot pulled herself up, staggered a bit before shaking the sand off her face and hair, and finally made it to Lapis just seconds before she flew off. "S-so, remember yesterday I told you to talk to Bismuth about cooling down the ship parts? I presume you haven't talked to her at all yet."

" _I have my reasons_ ," Lapis muttered under her breath. Peridot caught it, but decided not to press on the matter. "Correct. I suppose I should get that out of the way; it looks like she's getting a lot this time."

"That's the spirit!" Peridot cheered, and for a moment Lapis could have sworn she heard and saw Steven Universe himself then and there in Peridot's place. It was just _too_ on-point. "While you handle that, I'm gonna go inside the wreckage and see what I can salvage for our ship's interior. There might even be some components I can reverse-engineer!"

If it weren't for the verbiage, Lapis still could have sworn that was still Steven Universe talking to her. "Right; sounds good," Lapis agreed. "You go on ahead. I don't trust someone with your level of grace walking behind me… no offense." Her smile said she totally meant it, though.

Peridot audibly grumbled, but opted not to make a spectacle out of all this. She ran on towards the wreckage of Yellow Diamond's ship and looked for a way to enter the mangled remains of its interior. Lapis smirked, because of course Peridot would want to loot that first. She turned around to see a rather humorous Peridot-shaped imprint on the wet sand, but that wasn't the only noteworthy oddity on this patch of sand. Right next to the Peridot imprint (Lapis entertained the idea of calling it a Perimprint…) was a photo laying face-down.

Lapis knew she was probably sticking her nose where it didn't belong… then again, Peridot would be a massive hypocrite to call her out on something like that. Either way, it didn't stop her from picking up the photo to see what Peridot had clearly been hiding underneath her uniform. It wasn't hard to connect the dots…

* * *

The day passed by, with Greg coming in and out, but he was never gone for long. Without a real need for lunch breaks or sleeping, an astounding amount of progress was made by the time dusk settled in. It helped that two of the three gems were working in their element. Constant work made it rather easy for Peridot to keep a level head an an even temper. As long as she had something to keep her busy, her leadership skills shined the brightest. Bismuth and even Lapis had no reason to be concerned… for now.

Then came nightfall. A near-complete spaceship with glorious, glossy emerald coating was propped up by multiple beams nearby Bismuth's workbench. Peridot was inside, applying the finishing touches to the interior. As she predicted, they would definitely be ready to take off before sunrise. Technically, they could leave at midnight, but it had been a while since she checked how far along Lapis had come training herself to use only a finite amount of water. This is something she needed to know in order to prepare for how much water would be stored on the ship. Greg stocked the ship with a week's worth of his human needs - it actually took up very little space - meanwhile Lion and Pumpkin had already decided the ship was a nicer place to sleep than the chilly beach and took their spots. Bismuth did a final exterior quality check, and Lapis took the time to hone her skills once more. Nearby her were a few empty water coolers, ready to be filled with seawater when it was officially time to blast off.

"Huh, Steven didn't tell me he wrote that song with you. When was this?"

Peridot didn't turn to face Greg, as she was still in the middle of the penultimate phase of bug-fixing the system and controls. But she did smile a bit as she continued to work. "This happened at the barn. We were building the drill for the Cluster. The clods were all sitting around just staring at the sunset while we still had a drill to finish. I still believe I was justified to berate them for their careless and lazy behavior that day."

"Hm, when you put it like that, I can't disagree," Greg admitted, absentmindedly strumming his fingers on his guitar. "But Steven still somehow got this song out of you, is that right?" He quietly played the first couple of chords, which elicited a giggle out of Peridot.

"How was I supposed to know music was contagious?!" she replied between her laughs.

"You learned the hard way, then. But sometimes, that's the best way." Greg dabbled through a few other bits of the song. "Okay, you're right. A guitar can't fit the ukulele's shoes. It already sounds way better in my head."

Peridot hummed along with the notes, grateful that an hour's worth of bug-fixing was nearing its end. She did appreciate Greg's company to offset the boredom of this particular task, and when she managed to teach Greg _that_ song, something within her swelled with pride. She managed to teach it just by going off of how she remembered it sounded, as she never learned how to write sheet music. It felt like such a great accomplishment. She was almost _too_ happy.

"I'm starting to get used to it; you're fine," Peridot assured him. "Besides, it'll be that much better when you get to hear the real deal when we get Steven back."

"I'll definitely need a word with that boy; he should be letting me know every time he writes a new song!" Greg exclaimed, but it was all in good fun. He needed to be in a good place mentally, as he knew in a matter of ours, he'd be up in outer space on the way to an extremely difficult mission. He started strumming the final chords. "C'mon, at least do the last part one more time? Maybe you'll serenade the rest of the bugs to sleep."

Peridot smirked; she was nearing the very last bit of code to review anyway. She played along to the tune… somewhat.

 _"No, that is not how bugs work, sir_ _–_ _"_

"Uh-oh, that's not right!"

 _"I'd watch that tone if were you, sir_ _–_ _"_

"I'm in trouble?"

 _"Who would think my adlib's worth more, than peace and love on the planet Earth?"_

One moment later, a low beeping done broke the post-song silence. "Scan complete! Let's just cross that off the list, and– oh." Peridot's smile widened as she gazed down at her laptop. "That was the last test…"

Suddenly, Lapis' head poked up from the open hatch below. "Hey, turn down that racket, you hippies."

Peridot and Greg just stared at Lapis like she grew an extra head.

"Oh– sorry. That was my Uncle Andy impression," Lapis clarified.

"Ohhhh."

"Guess it needs more work."

"Actually, the line itself was perfect," Peridot pointed out. "It's the accent that makes it all come together."

"Yeah, that's what I was gonna say," Greg admitted. "Don't force yourself, though."

"Oof, I dunno, man. Dat sounds like some qoo-ality enta-tainment for da low-ng ride ta space if ya asks me."

That was enough to make Peridot fall out of her seat, kicking her feet with the biggest laugh she's had since her reforming. Greg was holding his sides while busting up with equally hysterical laughter.

Lapis just smirked and patiently waited for the two to get the giggles out of their system. It was a pity Bismuth was too preoccupied making final routine inspections around the ship; she probably would have loved to hear that.

"So, hey," Lapis spoke up again once Peridot was just about done. "Bismuth's pretty much done with her end of the quality check. Are we bug-free in here, Peridot?"

"Ah… ah, yeah, the scan just finished," Peridot squeaked before she got to her knees and climbed back into her seat. "I think we're about ready to set off. For once, we're ahead of schedule!"

"Cool," Lapis acknowledged. "I just need a minute to get some water."

Peridot looked over to her teammate, looking much more calm now. "How many are you gonna need?"

"Mm… let's make it three, just to be on the safe side," Lapis figured. "That's okay, right?"

To that, Peridot gave a noncommittal shrug. "Fine by me. Better that we get too much than too little. Worst case scenario, we can water bomb one of the Diamond clods on the way back."

Lapis nodded and ducked out to grab two of the empty plastic containers and flew out over the ocean. In the meantime, Bismuth came aboard and took a seat. "Woo, it's way bigger than it looked on the outside! Man, when we started, I was sure my first space ship would be some rinky-dink hunk of junk that'd barely fit the six of us!" She made sure to count Lion and Pumpkin. "This is _pristine!_ "

"Eh, we did hijack pretty much every part of this ship from the Diamonds'," Peridot slyly reminded her. "You know, it's nice that they finally gave something back to the working class."

Bismuth smirked and nodded heartily. "Ain't that the truth." There was a silent pause. "We're really going back; I can hardly believe it…"

Peridot blinked, just remembering she needed to be a leader and cover all the bases. "Right, so… once Lapis comes back with her water, we're getting out of here. Let me know if you're all packed up and equipped to go. Once I close this hatch, we're beyond the point of no return."

"All I'm ever gonna need is my weapon," Bismuth assured her boss. "It's not like I've been unbubbled long enough to get settled back in, anyway."

"I'm good," Greg confirmed. "Thanks for letting me bring the guitar, by the way."

"Not a problem." Peridot smiled down at Pumpkin, who was exploring every little nook and cranny of of her new surroundings. Lion was… well, Lion. With her eyes back toward the front, she saw Lapis dive into the ocean with her third water cooler in hand. "Just a little bit longer, Steven," she whispered. "I'm gonna get you out of there… I'm getting you all out of there."

Discretely, she slid her fingers down her uniform to bring out one of two pictures she brought along from Steven's picture collection last night. She figured he wouldn't mind; this was for a good cause. She kept the photo close to her chest, obscuring it. After all, there was no reason believe something could be wrong right this very second.

One eye opened abruptly as she heard Lapis fly in with three large jugs of water.

"You sealed those, right, Lapis?"

"Airtight," she confirmed. "I'm fully prepared; we should get moving."

Bismuth and Greg audibly agreed with her. Peridot confirmed the coordinates of their destination on the front screen. Just before moving her finger to shut the hatch for good, she decided to give that picture she still held one last look for luck, as she kept it pressed to her chest the entire time since drawing it out.

This was not the picture she wanted out at a time like this. A picture of Steven and herself making identical faces close to the camera (must have been a Funland trip) was the last thing she needed to see. But it was an easy mistake to make; she wasn't even looking when she took the photo out. The real problem arose when Peridot couldn't feel another picture under her uniform. She patted herself down completely; the other photo had been separated from her. Peridot had no idea where it could have fallen off or how. She knows it isn't in the ship; she's the one who installed the ship's interior assets. The only answer is that it fell in the sand outside somewhere, but that was the worst place to lose anything. That's a lot of ground to cover, and everyone was ready to go. If it got buried, she'd definitely never see it again.

"ALL RIGHT! WOO! OUTER _SPACE_ , BABY! LET'S GET THOSE DIAMONDS OUT OF OUR BISMUTH!"

Well, that's all it took for Peridot to scream, and not in her usual hysterical way. Not even bothering to address her crew, she hopped up and jumped down the hatch she nearly sealed up seconds ago.

"Whoa, what?!"

"Was it something I said…?"

Lapis stood up and grumbled. "Crap, I knew there was something I forgot about." She quickly looked to the others. "I'm sorry, everyone. I'll just tell you what you need to know; I have a feeling Dot's going to be too torn up to explain when I drag her sorry butt back here."

"What just happened?!" Greg asked. "She was fine just a second ago…"

"Simple. She thinks she dropped something important to her on the beach. Which she did, but I found it. Should've told her sooner. That's all there really is to it; it might be best not to interrogate her right away, so let me handle it." Lapis was annoyed, but resolute. Peridot was the only reason she agreed to this suicide mission in the first place. She wasn't about to let the leader of the Crystal Gems implode on herself before they even got off the ground. "I won't be long," she assured the rest before diving down the hatch to fly after her. .

Luckily, she didn't need to go far. Predictably, Peridot was digging in the sand all around her.

Amusing as it would've been to just hover behind and listen to Peridot insult herself over and over, this was not the time. Lapis landed by Peridot's side and poked her hair. "Hey, missing something?"

"G-go back to the stinkin' ship, Lazuli!"

"Ooh… you're _pissed_." Peridot hadn't called her that since they became roommates. Lapis reached around the back of her halter top and pulled out the missing photo. She peeled off the plastic wrap, which she had been thoughtful enough to do ahead of time since it was only a matter of time before she got completely wet somehow. "Hey, you're missing this, right? Why you would is beyond me…"

Peridot looked up. Sure enough, in Lapis' hands was a very simple and generic photo of Steven. Just Steven. "Ohhhmystars, ohgoodness, thank-" She reached up to grab it, only for Lapis to raise it higher so she couldn't reach. "Oh, I'm _so_ glad I didn't finish that. GIVE THAT HERE!"

Lapis just stared down at Peridot with disdain. To add insult to injury, she started to fly up just to make sure Peridot couldn't reach her or the picture. "Maybe you should explain yourself first," she suggested. "Aren't you supposed to be leading us? What kind of example are you setting here?"

"N-no example at all!" Peridot shot back. "That's for me to know and for none of you to find out! Now give it back and we can forget this ever happened!"

"Look, I'm sorry I'm doing this to you now, Peridot; I really am," Lapis insisted. "I know it's a bad time, but if we don't get this resolved right now, there won't be another opportunity. Not unless you're cool with sharing… whatever _this_ is to the rest of your team in there."

" _NO!_ " Peridot's voice cracked at the idea. "Wh-why can't you let me just keep this to myself?!"

The elder gem grew more annoyed by the second. They were going in circles like this. Was tough love not working? It felt like it should… Lapis wasn't comfortable with any of this. But if there was any remote chance that this could jeopardize their mission, she'd put a stop to it here and now.

Maybe it was time to go the direct approach. Lapis hated to assume, but she'd have to if there was any chance of getting Peridot to give her _something_.

"Why are you being so dramatic?" Lapis inquired. "This is just a crush, right?"

 _"_ _I don't know!"_

"Well, that usually points to a "yes", so…"

"I just said I don't know!"

Now Lapis' patience was running on fumes. "What else could it be?! Puppy love? Deep, obsessive love? You wanna be the Rose to his Greg, is that it?"

 _"I DON'T KNOW!"_

Lapis grit her teeth. She couldn't believe how much Peridot was stonewalling her now. And usually she was so bad at keeping up an act when she was lying…

"This can't just be a friend thing." Lapis crossed that off the list. "Familial love… no, doubt it. There's no way you _hate_ him; that much is obvious."

"Y-you just can't leave well enough alone, can you?!" Peridot was on the verge of tears. Actually, it was impressive she lasted this long before "I don't even know how to explain this to myself, never mind you!"

Lapis felt a sting just then. Seeing Peridot like that… it was exactly how she felt less than a year ago. Back when she was _Peridot's_ prisoner, being ruthlessly interrogated. The tides have turned, but not in a way either would have liked right now. It felt insane to even acknowledge that this overly emotional, vulnerable little gem used to be an emotionally devoid, morality-lacking soldier who just barely had more of a soul than a robonoid.

She sighed and gently descended to the ground. She walked over, sat down across from Peridot, and set the picture down at the middle between their feet. "Here," Lapis urged. "I'm not going to just wait here and prod you until you cry."

"Too late for _that_ ," Peridot growled, swiping the picture and keeping it close to her. "You just had to over-complicate this, didn't you, Lapis?!"

"I'm trying to understand you," Lapis calmly fired back. "Guess you're finally feeling what I felt back when Steven first tried to make us live together and you kept screwing up every chance I gave you for redemption." When she saw Peridot glare daggers at her right back, the elder gem flinched. "Fine, I take back what I said. I don't want to provoke you…"

Peridot narrowed her eyes at Lapis, still clutching the picture to her chest. "You sure do suck at not doing things you don't want to do, you know that?"

That was an obvious baiting attempt, and Lapis wasn't going to bite. "Something changed," she said. "Something shook you up badly. Almost like your whole world got turned on your head."

"You think?! Maybe you heard of a little thing called _Steven is stuck in Homeworld and I don't even know if he's okay right now because some blue CLOD is standing in my way!_ "

Finally, something connected. Lapis could feel it. "You've been all over the place since we told you about that. Is… is that it? Steven's on Homeworld and not on Earth, where he belongs. Earth… life in general.. it makes sense when he's around, doesn't it?"

Peridot just softly cried into her arms. No snappy comeback and no extreme adverse reaction. Definitely no stonewalling. Lapis was sure she nailed it. She scooted over so she could give Peridot a hug, even if she didn't reciprocate it. There was just one more thing she wanted to ask before she could cast aside any reasonable doubt. "Hey, when you think about things you've learned on Earth… what's something you would say is a lot like Steven? Like as close to Steven it can be without literally being him?"

She patiently waited a few moments. Questions like that could be tricky to answer, but the fact that she didn't blurt out a stupid answer right away was a good hint that she took that question seriously. "Mmm… I forgot what humans called them," she finally said. "They look like humans but they're not really… but they can fly, just like you do. Wings are different… bigger and puffier. And their heads… I think they emit some kind of antigravity field. I don't know how else they're keeping those gold-colored hollow discs floating over it."

Lapis smiled. This was something she was vaguely familiar with. "I believe they're called angels. And based off what I know of Steven… that's a very accurate way to put him, come to think of it."

"He's a special kind of angel," Peridot insisted. "I've seen 'em in movies…"

Lapis tried to think if she had seen any of these with Peridot, because nothing rang a bell just yet. "Special how, Peridot? What do they do?"

Peridot paused. She hadn't been looking at Lapis since she sat down next to her. She couldn't deny it felt therapeutic to talk about this; there really weren't any plans to get into this anytime soon. It just wasn't the time for something like that. Then again, neither was now. Peridot only had herself to blame, though.

"They save specific humans," she quietly recalled. "Save their lives, guide them on the right path… the humans are so messed up, they need that much supernatural help."

"Ah, I get it. Guardian angels." That was an even better description for Steven. If Lapis was being honest with herself, she sort of saw Steven that way as well. "That's what Steven is to you. And now that he's so far away, and in trouble on top of that, you're feeling lost."

"I'm _confused_ ," Peridot corrected. She sounded a bit more stable now, so Lapis released her hold. "Everything makes sense when he's here. One second I'm with everybody and I'm not even afraid to run my mouth at Yellow Diamond in person, because I felt so secure with that life and everyone in it. Then poof! Literally… poof! I wake up and _nothing makes any sense_."

Lapis saw where she was coming from, but still. For not being able to tell up from down, Peridot had done an amazing job making everyone believe she knew what she was doing.

"Like you said the other day ago, it's weird that I don't care that I'm returning to Homeworld! It's for the right reasons, but I should still be a little bit afraid, don't you think?! But we'll be saving Steven and the others, so I _wanna_ go there, Lapis! When I see him again and know he's alive, I know it'll make me all better! I feel like I've lost my center of gravity or something, don't you get it?"

That made Lapis smile. She understood now. "Because Steven _is_ your center of gravity, Peridot. Your center of gravity left Earth and is on Homeworld right now. You're going to chase him down, and you'll put him back where he belongs. It's no wonder you kept warding me away with all those "I don't know"s earlier. It's not that you don't want to tell me. You just don't know what to even say."

"That won't even matter if we can't get him out of Homeworld," Peridot muttered. "You're taking this too well… don't you think this is completely messed up? It's not like he's _your_ center of gravity…"

Now Lapis smirked. "I think the world of Steven, but you're right. I don't think it's as complicated as you believe it to be. Just look at that picture of him and you. I love spending time with Steven, but his idea of being with friends versus mine is… well, a little too different. Stuff like that is too loud, too exposed to people who can see. Baggage might also factor into this."

That prompted Peridot to look up at Lapis. "You mean the fact that all of you are, at a minimum, 5 Earth millennia of age, and had something to do with the war and the rebellion stuff that I didn't even know about until coming to this planet?"

"Heh. I had a feeling you weren't anywhere near even a thousand years old, so you're welcome for covering for you with Connie that one time." Lapis suspected the token Era 2 of the Crystal Gems was much, much younger than she cared to admit. But the fact that Peridot was so removed from that ancient drama was what made her somewhat refreshing to be around. "Peridot, can you stand up?"

She did so, but she still looked a little pouty. "I _guess_ I'm ready to go back now."

At least they weren't far away. Before reaching the ship, Lapis turned around to ask Peridot her original question. "So can you tell me why these pictures mean so much to you? I know you just got them from Steven's room last night; they're not keepsakes."

Peridot's lip quivered for a bit, her eyes darting around from left to right while she tried to find some justification for blowing up over something so pedestrian. "They're my… gravity stabilizers," she finally said. One cheers me up when I'm feeling like a defective piece of scrap; the other gives me strength and… pulls me back into reality when I start to break down. I realized last night that thinking about him is what keeps me going as a freaking _leader_ now. But I can't count on my memory just flashing at me at the right time _every_ time. I need to be able to control that, so that's why I picked these specific photographs."

"Gravity stabilizers… I like that," Lapis said with a smirk. "Well, at the very least, if the "center of gravity" theory proves to be true, then you're going to be a _boss_ once we step into Homeworld."

"I'm counting on that," Peridot muttered. Both came through the hatch and back into their ship. "I apologize for the delay, everyone. Don't bother getting mad; none of you could ever hope to be more angry at me than I am."

With that, she plopped down to her seat and picked up from where she led off. The hatch closed, lights shined all around the ship's interior as everyone looked at Lapis after she took her seat, like they expected her to be the Oracle of all things Peridot.

She just shrugged at them and smiled. "We're all in this deep, aren't we? Let's see where this takes us."

And they took off, leaving the Earth behind within moments and on a fast course to Homeworld. There, Steven Universe and the original Crystal Gems waited for them. Emboldened with resolve now that the rescue mission was underway, Peridot couldn't help but express herself the best way she knew how.

 **"Prepare yourself, Homeworld! I'm coming back not as your slave, but as your savior!"**

* * *

 **Notes:**

This came spur-of-the-moment, and I wanted to get at least part of this vision out of my head before the upcoming season 5 finale. I was certain if I waited, canon would crush this sucker to bits and it'd never get written. I'm actually not sure if I'll continue this or not; I'm not exactly sure how good a job I even did for my first SU fanfic. There could be up to 3 parts of this, because I know for certain what I want going down for the Homeworld climax, but I highly doubt I'll be able to write all that out before the canon stuff comes about.

This story was like a slippery eel for me. 11 pages in and I thought I was nearing completion. The actual end came at... page 47. I hope somebody got to enjoy this story, anyway.


	2. A Solid B-Plus

**Notes:**

So... at the start of this I wanted a 3-Act structure. Part 1, you saw what that is. This Part is all about the mission and ends when the mission ends. Yes, it really does go on this long. Part 3 will be the Fallout from this and how it gets resolved. I am very hesitant about posting this all together because I'm sure many would prefer this to be cut up into chapters, and maybe I'll do that if enough people really feel that way. Just wanted to get that warning out there. The Season 5 finale aired, and I incorporated elements from it accordingly. But maybe not the details you'd expect. This is very, very, VERY AU. Only the first few minutes of the finale are canon here, so be prepared to see some VERY differently depicted Diamonds.

So enjoy this, if you can. I'm almost positive this has something for everybody. The cast does expand over time, so it won't be solely our makeshift Crystal Temps for the entirety of this. Also, might tweak this over time because I've seen plenty of broken/bad sentences and typos, but I cleaned up what I could see. Hopefully they're not too jarring.

* * *

"Coordinates, confirmed. Trajectory, set. System efficiency, stable. Condition of vessel, 100% with no compromised structural integrity. Estimated time of arrival… 3.3 Earth hours."

It was a tense moment for some, adjusting to their surroundings. Though it wasn't Greg's first time off-planet, it would never cease to both astound and terrify him. Bismuth respectfully kept herself quiet as Peridot read off the diagnostics; she did help build this ship, after all. And it was her very first, no less. Lapis, meanwhile, just kept to herself. She committed herself to this, but once the scenery abruptly shifted from Beach City to the deep reaches out outer space, her own trauma slithered back into her mind. She ultimately willed it away; all it took was for Lapis to watch Greg and Peridot, and she remembered why she was here. Just as liftoff commenced, Lapis sounded almost excited… was that really her own enthusiasm, or her attempt to rally up her teammates?

It didn't really matter. Finally, Peridot shifted the controls to autopilot and the ship aligned itself to a perfect horizontal angle. Now it would be safe to stand up and walk around. Peridot did just that, coming over to face her teammates.

"Liftoff, successful! Welcome to Phase 2 of our mission, everybody!"

"Well… I handled that better than I thought," Greg said in near disbelief. "Good piloting, Peri- _whoooah!_ "

Suddenly, Greg floated out of his seat. "Aah, I didn't think I'd be like this for the whole trip! This is kind of… a bit much!"

"Hmph," Peridot huffed. "Fortunately for you, I did install an antigravity feature. Consider yourself one lucky human being, because I almost decided not to." She leaned over, pressed a button, and Greg landed perfectly back in his seat.

Greg laughed to himself nervously. "Guess so; thanks for reconsidering it, Peridot. You know, we never did name this ship…"

Peridot tilted her head at her human teammate. "I presume that's an Earth custom? It's not unheard of on Homeworld, but that's reserved for the vessels noteworthy enough to earn one."

"Well, on Earth, it's bad luck to have a nameless ship," Greg explained. "Whether or not there's any truth to it, I just feel nervous even giving fate an excuse to jinx us."

"Well, this ship _was_ made on Earth," Bismuth pointed out. "Doesn't matter if it's all Homeworld material. It's the spirit of those who built it, and those who use that ship that counts. So I think it deserves the Earth treatment."

"Sounds nice, but what are we gonna call it?" Lapis asked, only partially invested in this. While she did help with the ship's construction, her input was minuscule compared to Bismuth and Peridot's. The gem looked to Greg. "What do you usually name your ships?"

Greg dismissively waved his hand and let out a chuckle. "Honestly? Pretty much anything. I know it's popular to name them after a lady you really like, but sometimes it's just random names depending on who you ask. But now that I think about it, giving the ship a name might be important. If you're about to land in a place with people living there, don't they usually radio you in and ask for your ship's name before they let you land?"

"You may have a point there," Peridot conceded. "Okay, so let's name the ship. Toss in suggestions and we'll vote for one."

That drew a smirk out of Lapis. "I'm surprised, Peridot. I figured you would pull rank and veto whatever you don't like. Y'know, because you're basically the captain here and you could do that."

Peridot just shrugged off that little bit of chiding. "Don't you worry. I'll find plenty of other ways to be a terrifying boss to you, Lapis." She then faced her teammates, definitely going out of her way to look like a true authoritarian in demeanor. "Okay, I'll go around the room. Starting with…" The captain turned her head to the far right, where Greg sat. "… you, PUU."

"Me first?" Greg pointed at himself. "Well, okay. Let me thin- Peridot, what the heck? Puu?!"

Peridot smirked and nodded. "My apologies, but I've yet to find the optimal nickname for you, Paternal Unit Universe. So until then, your placeholder name is P-U-U, for short."

Bismuth and even Lapis were seen trying to stifle their snickering, because that didn't make Greg feel that much better about his current nickname. "Gee, thanks… well, I guess it makes sense why _you_ don't see anything wrong with it. I-I'll just take it, then, while we're on this trip. After that, something else, please?"

Peridot totally knew why her nickname for Greg was… well, quite undignified. She still found it hilarious. And for once in her life, she actually managed to make a convincing fib; Greg fully believed this was just another alien-not-knowing-human-context thing that Peridot was quite notorious for. "I'll think about it," she said. "So, what are you thinking of for a ship name?"

"Hm, uh…"

"PUU, you were the one who proposed this," Peridot said to him, narrowing her eyes. "I assumed you already had a name in mind."

"H-heh, well, there are _lots_ of names to choose from, and-"

"We still have plans to finalize," Peridot reminded him. "Answer within the next ten seconds, or your right to vote is revoked."

Greg wasn't used to Peridot like… this. Were it not for her stature, the gem would have come off like a very strict school teacher. He figured when she suddenly left the ship before they took off, it might have been for more than just losing an item.

"How about the 4-Leaf Clover?" He suggested literally the first thing that came to mind.

"The… what?" Peridot was skeptical. "Oh, wait. Those tiny plants that hide in the grass. Trifolium. Human culture likes to make propaganda about the four-leafed variants, but during my extended stay at the barn, I never once saw them. Clearly, they are myths."

"Nah, just _really_ rare, actually," Greg corrected. "That's why they're a symbol of luck; they wouldn't be that special if you saw them all the time. And hey, four leaves can stand for the four of us as a team!" That part sounded like something that he just came up with.

Peridot nodded. "Very well. Let's move on…" She next approached Bismuth. "… to you. And try to resist putting your name in there as a pun," she forewarned. "I know that must be hard."

"Gotta say, I really like what Greg is goin' for," Bismuth confessed. "The theme, that is. Not so much the name. Luck, and somethin' green. So I was thinking…"

She went silent for a moment, wishing Peridot would stop giving her that piercing stare. "Uh, the Celadon Serendipity?"

Peridot took a step back, giving Bismuth a silent nod in acknowledgement. It was time to poll her last crew mate. "I'm sure I'm wasting my time asking you, Lapis. But I'll humor you; what's your idea for a name?"

Lapis, fully relaxed in her seat, issued smirk that exuded sheer smugness. "Wow, you both suck at names," she teased before addressing Peridot. "Easy. Just call it the PeriLuck."

Greg and Bismuth blinked and gaped at their confident teammate.

" _PeriLuck?_ " Peridot was not as easy to impress; then again, taking the name literally as she often does, she didn't understand the meaning. "That's no word I've ever heard of… is it foreign?"

"You disappoint me, Peridot," Lapis chided. "You're as dense as they are terrible at making names. It's a portmanteau: for Peridot's Luck. Or the Lucky Peridot. Either one fits the bill for the shorthand version."

"Oh…" Peridot felt her ego take a hit there. "So, sucking up and naming it after me, are you?"

"Don't know what you're talking about," Lapis said, still lackadaisical. "I just followed the guidelines; you _are_ predominantly green, after all."

"I vote for that one!" Greg called out and raised his hand.

Bismuth followed suit. "Hey, I do respect a play on words," she said. "I'll concede defeat this time, Lapis."

Abruptly, Lapis turned her head away to focus on the stars. "Whatever. Take it or leave it, Peridot."

This had to be the third or fourth time Peridot noticed some degree of tension between Bismuth and Lapis, although the animosity was entirely coming from the latter. She had hoped whatever this was would be dismissed by the time they got into space; to see it still like this now, that could be risky. Peridot wasn't about to let this to spring up while they're in the middle of a Homeworld base.

"Lapis? Is there something you want to say?" Peridot asked, keeping her tone neutral. Bismuth had consistently looked completely ignorant of whatever issue there was, and Lapis had hinted in prior conversations that there were "other" reasons why a talk between her and Bismuth fell through or was needlessly delayed.

" _Ugh_ , no," Lapis groaned. "Not the time or the place, Peridot. We've got more important crap going on right now, you know?"

"Y-yeah, I know," Peridot affirmed. "We're settled, then. We refer to our ship as the PeriLuck from now on. But it's high time we have a proper team discussion. Those 3 hours will go by in a flash."

Bismuth nodded. "This would be a lot simpler if we had some kind of map. I know the Diamond Palaces are hard to miss, but I doubt we can just park right outside their front door."

While Peridot wanted to angrily shake a fist up and curse Amethyst for this, she restrained herself. "The good news is, it'll be easy to obtain one on Homeworld. My concern is where in the world we're going to park this ship. A place that's both secluded and optimal for our escape route will be nearly impossible to find; we can't have it both ways. And we should all agree it's more important that our ship goes by unnoticed."

Peridot looked back at the viewing screen at the front of the ship that displayed information on their projected course, how far along they were, and how much time remained before reaching the destination. It also displayed the current time (more accurately, the time it would be in Beach City if they were still there now) and Homeworld's time. Greg wouldn't know since that was obviously in Gem language.

"It seems we chose a good time to leave Earth," the young gem noted. "Air traffic should be minimal by the time we're set to make landfall. If we can find a good hiding place for our ship, I'll let you do some recon, Lapis."

"Huh?" Lapis didn't expect to be addressed already. "What are you talking about?"

"I discouraged your use of flight when we're outdoors on Homeworld," Peridot reminded her. "But if the air traffic is light, I will permit it. I trust you will use that privilege responsibly."

That made Lapis smile a bit. "I see. Thank you, Peridot."

"Do you have a general idea of where we're gonna land?" Bismuth asked. "You did say you knew present-day Homeworld pretty well."

"The ideal spot to land would be at Facet 5; that's where I primarily worked, as well as where I emerged," Peridot said, trying not to let any emotion linger too long in her voice. "It would be wonderful if we could land at a loading dock, but that will draw too much attention."

"Didn't you say you had some stuff you were gonna give me to protect this thing, Peridot?"

That was Greg, of course. Peridot smiled a bit and walked over to him. "I certainly did; thank you for reminding me." She dug around in some nearby supplies to procure certain items.

"Here's your trump card," she said while handing him something that looked like a pronged baton with a yellow gem in the middle to him. "A gem destabilizer. One little touch, and poof goes the clod who tried to invade our ship," she said with a grin. This is best used when they're in close range."

"Hm, neat," Greg mumbled as he examined his weapon. "I remember what you said about how to use Pumpkin, too."

"Good; make sure she doesn't come to harm," Peridot advised him before giving him other items. "You earthlings have some very handy defensive weaponry," she remarked while giving Greg a pouch that seemed to be filled with balls that could fit on his palm. "I found a few things worth pilfering up in the beach house. I'm sure you know what smoke bombs are."

"I sure do!" Greg affirmed with enthusiasm. "What else ya got?"

Peridot handed him what looked like a blaster connected to a tube connected to a medium tank. "This one will be a pain to clean up later, but I won't be mad if you have to use it," she assured him. "Liquid adhesive."

"You can't believe I how much safer I feel right now!" Greg exclaimed, seemingly excited to actually use these items.

"Well, that's good, because that _is_ their function." Peridot handed over a couple of what looked like 10-sided dice made of obsidian. "Now, these are just prototypes for something much bigger I'm working on, but they're cloaking devices. One for you, and one for Pumpkin."

"I get to be invisible, too?!" Greg sounded more and more like his son by the minute. "This is awesome!"

Lapis looked impressed with the spread her friend had offered their human companion. "Wow… you really did a lot more than I thought you were doing when you took breaks to run into the house yesterday."

" _You don't know the half of it."_ That's what Peridot was tempted to say. But some of the things she did the beach house were best left unsaid for now.

"I forgive you for thinking so little of me," Peridot really said with a sweet smile. This whole time, she had been doing much better keeping a professional air about her. It made Lapis wonder about that "center of gravity" theory as they closed in on Homeworld. If there was some truth to it, Peridot had the potential to be an extremely efficient and effective leader; exactly the kind they need for their mission.

"I'm glad you made sure to get Greg so well-equipped," Bismuth piped in. "Covering for him and our PeriLuck at the same time. So if we find a good place to land, we oughta be golden."

Peridot couldn't help but blush a little at the praise. "I just had this nagging thought in the back of my mind that I can't overlook this. Like our entire mission could be ruined if I didn't do all of this…"

She sounded quite somber all of a sudden. Now that Peridot had brought up failure, Lapis was compelled to ask a very uncomfortable question. "Peridot, I hate to bring this up. Especially when we're so close to starting the mission, but have you thought about what will happen if one of us gets captured or shattered? Even you?"

That definitely brought down the whole mood. The small gem both loved and hated that Lapis brought it up. She gulped and closed her eyes while she tried to maintain her composure.

"Of course, Lapis," she gently replied. "I think about that more than anything else. I especially think about it once we free Steven and the others; the size of our party will more than double in size, and the larger the party, the harder it is to maintain stealth. So odds are, the journey back to the ship will be far more dangerous than the one we're about to embark on."

Lapis could tell Peridot had that on her mind way more than she let on. Bismuth felt a similar impression.

"In that case, why not split into smaller groups when we get everyone back?" the war veteran suggested. "Heck, the three of us could split up and cover more ground that way."

"Yes, in most circumstances, that would be the ideal tactic," Peridot shot back; her expression hardening. "For our mission, that's the stupidest thing we could possibly do. Did you already forget I'm the only one who actually knows how to navigate Homeworld, Bismuth? We've got the odds stacked against us enough already; we don't need to add on to that once you and Lapis inevitably get lost."

"I guess I did forget that," Bismuth muttered, notably embarrassed for doing so. "My bad."

From Lapis' standpoint, it almost seemed like Peridot tried to dodge her original question. Actually, it was exactly that. She wouldn't let that slide. "Peridot, you never answered my question."

And Peridot knew Lapis had caught on. Given how important the topic was, though, she decided not to play coy. "Well, that depends on who we lose," she said grimly. "If it's me… and if I can help it, if it has to be anyone, it _will_ be me-"

A collective gasp from the group shushed Peridot for a moment, but she forged ahead before they could start protesting. "Look, you wanted me to address this, so let me address it already!" No one spoke up, so Peridot continued. "From an objective standpoint, I stand the greatest chance of not coming out of this alive. There's a high chance we'll pass by hostile gems who will recognize me, and unlike you two, I can't really hold my own in a physical confrontation. Misdirection and trickery are the best I've got; my metal powers still aren't developed enough to do any real damage, or even protect me. I might get kidnapped while your backs are turned, or they'll use me as a hostage to force you into surrendering. You two need to be aware of crap like this!"

"W-we _are_ aware of that, Peri," Bismuth insisted, though the tone in her voice indicated this is the first time she _really_ thought about this. "But you're running this mission, remember? Who's gonna run the show if you're not there to guide us?"

"That depends on the progress made so far on the mission before my demise," Peridot replied coldly. "If it's before you reach Steven, it should fall to you, Bismuth. You at least have experience leading the battlefield, and if I'm taken out, then odds are you two will need that exact kind of expertise to survive and escape."

It really sickened Lapis to hear Peridot sound so nonchalant about her own death. She'd wonder what happened to the perpetually paranoid roommate she used to have, but finding out about those "gravity stabilizers", she already knew what brought this on. She wasn't alone, either: neither Greg nor Bismuth sat well with their leader talking like this.

"If Steven and the other Crystal Gems are with you when that happens… it should fall to Garnet," Peridot decided. "A real leader will get you all out of there safely if I fail you."

Each of Peridot's teammates wanted to say something, or at least object to something she said, but no one could find the words.

Something _very_ uncomfortable itched in the back of Bismuth's mind… and she didn't want to, but if she didn't come out and say it now, there never would be a good time. "Okay, Peridot. Let's talk about how we handle things the other way around."

Peridot narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Be more specific."

Bismuth sighed, but kept her eyes down on her leader. "If we're forced into a position where we have to fight, and there's a spot where you're in a shatter-or-be-shattered struggle… how far would you go?"

"I would use no more force than what is absolutely necessary," Peridot firmly answered. "But if it's my life or the enemy's, I'll shatter my enemy. That's justified self-defense. Bear in mind I'm saying that under the assumption that I _could_ do that. I just told you I'm as strong as a wet noodle."

"Fair enough," Bismuth conceded. "So let's switch the perspective. Say we got Steven and the others freed and we're ambushed while we're heading back. We're all laid out, and someone's cornered Steven. He's seconds away from getting shattered, and the only way to save him is to shatter the enemy yourself. Let's say you're the only other gem standing in the fight; I know in other circumstances you'd call on another's help."

That seemed to get the reaction Bismuth wanted: conflicted feelings. Peridot couldn't answer right away. She even broke eye contact with Bismuth while she tried to figure this out.

Lapis seemed to not be on the same page as the others for once; to her, it just looked like Bismuth was trying to upset Peridot on purpose. She really had no desire to speak directly to Bismuth if she could help it, and right now… she couldn't help it. "Bismuth, what are you playing at?! Why are you putting her on the spot like this?!"

Bismuth turned to Lapis, and for the first time, it wasn't a friendly gesture. "If you knew Steven like I know Steven - and obviously, like _she_ knows Steven, you'd know the boy is a pacifist to a major fault."

With a furrowed eyebrow, Lapis replied, "What? I know Steven is a pacifist, Bismuth! And I know he can be too forgiving for his own good! But what does that-"

"He ever tell you that if you shatter your enemy for _any_ reason, that makes you just as bad as the Diamonds we're fighting against?"

Peridot visibly winced while she struggled to put herself together. This was a rare time when looking to a picture of Steven for solace would actually backfire.

"What…?" Lapis was taken aback by this. "But that's… that's ludicrous!" As a long-tormented victim from both sides of the war, she knew fully well the widespread death and destruction the Diamonds had been responsible for, directly or indirectly. She'd never shed a tear for any of them, and Lapis, if she was honest with herself, still wanted to see them shatter for that.

"That's what I thought," Bismuth agreed. "Heck, that's still how I feel for the most part. But he is who he is; none of us can change that."

Lapis felt herself shaking. "If he _knew_ just what exactly they've done, how many lives they ended for no reason-"

"Black and white morality. I hate that way of thinking."

Both Lapis and Bismuth turned to look to Peridot, who regained some of her composure. "I've worked directly under Yellow Diamond. I thought nothing of her actions back when I still lived there, you know. It hasn't been until recently that I looked back on those days, now knowing the truth. I remember witnessing so many executions, both formal and informal. A few times, it even happened to a Peridot who sat next to me in the work station. And the way I reacted to that… I didn't even flinch! I felt nothing while I _brushed my coworker's gem dust off me_. I just thought about what an annoyance it was when I _wiped away the pieces from my console_."

No one dared to make a sound. Bismuth's jaw dropped, while Lapis looked so disturbed and sickened by the very gory details, she felt like she was going to vomit. Not that she had anything in her to actually do so, but these reactions made Lapis realize there was still a lot she didn't know about Peridot. Then again, she'd be surprised if Peridot told _anyone_ about this already.

"I can't believe you three are the first ones I've told this to." Well, that answered one thing for Lapis. "I didn't even realize this until a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't thought about those days in years, because they didn't mean anything to me back then. I guess it really shouldn't now… but now that I'm seeing my old memories through a new lens…" Peridot only now noticed how devastated her crew was made just by hearing about this.

It made Peridot feel a nauseating myriad of emotions, both good and bad. But she was mentally beating herself up over letting this happen. There would be a time for stories later. Right now, she needed to make sure she could trust Lapis and Bismuth as much as they trusted her. She was pretty sure that trust took a nosedive just now.

"I apologize for going on that tangent." Peridot willed herself back into professional mode. The tone of her voice was cold and low-key, similar to how she spoke when she first inspected the warp pad on Earth. It was no wonder old memories were flooding back. But Peridot was certain this didn't mean she was regressing back into her old ways. It just bothered her immensely that she had to keep her voice so eerily subdued just to make sure she could do her job right now. "I shouldn't have steered the conversation so far off topic. Let me answer your question properly, Bismuth."

Now Bismuth wasn't so sure she wanted it anymore. "Th-that's fine, Peridot. I didn't mean to push-"

"I repeat, _let me answer your question_ ," Peridot forcefully insisted. She had raised her voice to get Bismuth to back down. "Would I shatter an opponent who would kill Steven Universe if I did anything otherwise? Yes. My answer is yes."

Bismuth sadly nodded. "Even if-"

"Yes, Bismuth. Even if he hates me for doing it. Even if he never forgives me. Even if he deems me a monster who should stay bubbled in the Temple indefinitely, I'd do it all over again every time. The way I see it, I can deal with Steven casting me out if it means he'll be able to live his life. He'll still be surrounded with a loving family and wonderful friends, even if I'm no longer part of it. I'll readily take that over Steven perishing while retaining his presumably high opinion of me. Does that satisfy your inquiry?"

"I… ah, yeah. Sure, it does. I'm sorry I went there." Bismuth bowed her head, no doubt ashamed how this got so far off the rails.

"If you're wondering about me, my answers are roughly the same," Lapis supplied, just barely talking above her normal speaking voice. "We'll deal with the consequences when we return to Earth."

"Right," Bismuth agreed. She looked over to where a very, very quiet Greg sat. "You doin' okay over there, Greg?"

Even he was at a loss for words. Still, he nodded with a nervous smile on his face while giving the thumbs-up.

"I believe we've been dealing with semantics long enough," Peridot said, the chill in her voice still present. "Unfortunately, I believe that's all the planning we can do ahead of time with so little information going in. I swear to the both of you, I will be a better and more consistent leader the moment we set foot into Homeworld. And I _will_ keep you both updated as we keep moving forward. I hate plans revolving around making things up as you go, but this time, it's unavoidable. I hope you two can understand."

"It's not like you can help it," Lapis replied. "I'll do my best to follow your lead. For what it's worth, Peridot… I still think you're more fit for the position than I am."

"And I'm no better," Bismuth chimed in. "Looks like we still got an hour and a half to go. Wanna de-stress and just have a little fun before we infiltrate heavily guarded hostile enemy territory?"

Peridot just stared silently at the two for a few very awkward moments. Her expression was unreadable, so it was impossible for either of her teammates to tell whether she was frozen in indecision or… in a much worse state than before.

Lapis tried to step up and break the silence. "Hey, Per-"

"Here's what we're going to do until we reach our destination."

Lapis stepped back in surprise, and Bismuth kept her mouth shut. Somehow, Peridot had an even colder voice, but one that sounded less subdued but much more authoritative. She walked over to a panel full of buttons and pressed one. Before either could make heads or tails of what she had in mind, Bismuth and Lapis were suddenly both trapped under a glass chamber. It was wide enough to accommodate for both gems, but only barely. The two were forced closer together than either of them ever wanted to be. Of course, their focus was fully on Peridot right now than each other.

Their young leader did not turn her attention towards them right away; instead, she went for her tablet. It was within reaching distance, so it was scooped up effortlessly while Peridot was revealed to have some sort of microphone in her hands. She then glanced to her side to see Lapis angrily banging against the glass with Bismuth looking more hurt and confused; she had a single hand resting against the glass. Lapis definitely looked and felt betrayed; even worse, she seemed to have a good idea why Peridot would pull something like this; that knowing glare told it all.

"Both of you, calm down," Peridot spoke into the mic. Both of them looked up and heard the voice coming from the ceiling instead of directly in front of the one who spoke those chilling words. Both Lapis and Bismuth's cries were unheard, and Peridot simply shook her head. "Until I flip this switch, no one will hear either of you. And stop trying to make a scene, Lapis. You know you aren't going to break out of triple diamond-grade plexiglass. Now shut up and listen closely; I will _not_ repeat myself."

That order was obeyed rather quickly. Peridot figured she should make sure she didn't scare Greg into hurling himself out the airlock, but he remained seated where he'd been the whole time. He definitely knew what was going on, but was too afraid to say anything against the gem he just had a heartwarming talk with last night. The same gem he saw care for Pumpkin like a loving mother. The Peridot of last night and the Peridot of today still looked the same, but otherwise seemed like two completely different gems.

"It's okay, PUU. You've behaved yourself, so there's no need to punish you. If it's okay, I'd like to ask you a favor, though."

It was haunting even hearing Peridot say that gross nickname, but Greg was quick to nod and try not to sound completely scared out of his wits. "U-uh, sure thing. What can I do ya for?"

Peridot gestured over to the trapped Lapis and Bismuth. "I'm not sure if you picked up on it since we first came together, but there has been some heavily repressed animosity between these two. Or more accurately, I should say Lapis is being a passive-aggressive clod, thinking I'm not catching her throw dirty looks at Bismuth every chance she gets. I have no idea what this could be about, and I already gave Lapis her chance to air it out earlier here. This is a loose thread we are _not_ leaving hanging when we infiltrate Homeworld. I will not allow for pettiness like this to get in the way of me doing what I need to do for this mission. If this situation is not sorted out by the time we land, I'll go on my own if I must." She then looked to Greg. "I only ask you to do some babysitting for me. Flip this switch," she instructed, pointing to the switch next to the single glowing button she had pressed earlier. "And you will be able to hear them. Obviously, you can communicate with this." She held out her mic and placed it in Greg's hands.

"O-oh, that's it? That shouldn't be too bad…" No way was Greg going to risk being defiant now. "You, uh, got other important stuff to do right now, I guess?" He couldn't think why else Peridot wouldn't indulge on watching this; it felt like something even her normal self would do.

"It's of extreme importance," Peridot assured the man. "I will be in my own isolation chamber nearby, timed to open the moment we enter Homeworld's atmosphere. Like their chamber, it is soundproofed, so you will not hear from me, or vice-versa. Unlike their chamber, the glass in mine is only mirrored from one side, so you will not see me, but I can see you if I choose to."

"I get it. Privacy, right?" Greg still nodded along, not wanting to incur Peridot's wrath, even though he was clearly very much in good graces with her.

"Precisely." Finally, Peridot let herself smile just a little. "And of course I trust you, but I don't trust Lapis to let me have that when I need it most. So to discourage any temptation to start banging at my chamber and hanging over it like some wild, rabid organic, I'll activate a disruptor field that covers a meter-wide radius. I will be able to see you if I so choose, so if an emergency is happening, simply behave as such so I will be inclined to come out prematurely to deal with the situation."

"Right, right. Uh… what's the visual cue that'll definitely catch your eye and make you realize we're probably about to die out there?"

Peridot blinked at the man. "Mmm… run back and forth within my visual radius, flail your arms like crazy, and scream. That's a natural way for an organic to react in a life-threatening situation, right?"

"Uh… yeah, those're the telltale signs! Either that or a crazy dude…" Greg decided not to bring it up, but he was surprised to hear Peridot finally sound more like herself right at that moment. In an instant, her voice was back at its normal pitch, her volume no longer at a murmur, and there was a tone of intrigue and amusement in her words. "By the way, did you want some kind of report on these two once they start talking…?"

"Hm… not this time," Peridot decided, as she started to punch in the settings for her own chamber. "My interest in the newest chapter of the sea-beast's drama has expired, and I'm 99% certain whatever her deal is, is completely irrelevant to the mission or our team's cohesion. Had that been the case, we would have seen Lapis try to drown Bismuth well before this point."

There returned her childish glee and mischievous bratty inflections. Subdued, but no longer suppressed.

"Okay, then," Greg decided to end that topic before it started; he wasn't wild about having to sit through Lapis and Bismuth arguing as it was. "Hey, Peridot?"

Peridot just about hit the deploy button before hearing that. She turned her head to face Steven's father. "Uh-huh?"

"Just… lettin' you know you can always talk to me if you've got a problem, okay?" Greg wouldn't mention the fact that he'd become increasingly concerned for her wellbeing, _especially_ during that conversation once the topic of her hypothetical death came along. It went entirely downhill from there. As he told her before, he had no intention of pressuring her and would not make her talk unless she wanted to. She was right up there with Amethyst when it came to that talkative nature, as it turned out, but there were still certain subjects she kept her mouth sealed about.

"Right; I remember you said that the other day ago… it's much appreciated and I will definitely consider it when I return. Just let me know I owe you one for doing me this favor, okay? I'll see you in 95 Earth minutes!"

"Will do!" Greg smiled and waved as the chamber was deployed and slowly descended to surround Peridot and the seat she sat in. Obviously she had some business to conduct on her tablet that she didn't want prying eyes to see, but that was her business and hers alone, he knew.

With that, he let out an exhausted sigh and turned to the ladies behind him. Greg flipped the switch per Peridot's instructions, and sure enough, he could quickly hear the two grumbling inside their cozy captivity. "Okay, Lapis, Bismuth: your friend Greg is here!" he said into the microphone. "You're coming in loud and clear now."

" _Greg!_ Get us out of here!" Lapis yelled; it sounded more like an order rather than a plea. "That little imp had no right-"

"Hun, you don't play it like this," Bismuth advised. "I'm mad too, but maybe it'd be in your best interest to not go off on the man who holds the keys to our freedom."

" _I don't need to hear that from you!"_ There was pure venom laced in the aquatic gem's voice.

Greg could see why Peridot wanted to get this out of the way, now. Lapis' attitude was downright toxic. "Listen, we can make this quick and painless if you just do what your leader wants," he pointed out. "And don't think I'm taking sides here; Peridot only got the bare-bones details of what you two talked about before she reformed. I saw the whole exchange, remember? You were rude to her from the start, Lapis. But you never really explained your behavior. You told Peridot about how you didn't want to participate in this mission, but you didn't tell her the real issue that held you up."

"B-because we don't have time for that! Your son and his friends have been waiting for our help for nearly three days, now!" Lapis cried out. "And this Bismuth has made it clear that she won't own up to what she's done!"

To this, Greg could only let out a tired sigh. He figured the decades of basically living with the Crystal Gems would have better prepared him to deal with a conflict like this. There certainly was no shortage of that with Pearl and Amethyst, and on the odd occasion, Garnet would have some kind of hang-up she didn't handle well. But these two weren't really like the Crystal Gems he'd come to know. Sure, they were both involved with the gem war and the rebellion, but for completely different reasons. Both were loners; again, for different reasons. Lapis was starting to recover and have something resembling a life of peace with companionship, but the relapse seemed to have set her a few steps back. Bismuth has been hidden in Lion's mane for thousands of years, with no one even trying to find her because Rose lied about her fate. Finally, she had a chance at living her life anew, and less than a day later came the post-wedding battle that put them all on this course in the first place. Life had not been kind to either of them, Greg could tell. He just wished there was a way they could build something off from that. But he wasn't exactly his son when it came to bringing people and gems alike together.

"Lapis, there's still more than an hour to go before we can do anything about my son, sorry to say," Greg pointed out. "Peridot wanted you to get past this so it wouldn't come up again at a bad time. And like it or not, until you find Steven and the gang, you two are gonna _have_ to work together."

"And Lapis, we're not gonna get anywhere until you give me somethin' more specific than "you know what you did", you know?" Bismuth tried her best to stay neutral here; she really didn't hold ill will against her fellow gem and did her best to co-exist with her. But this finally seemed to be the breaking point.

A dark chuckle escaped Lapis' lips before she furiously pointed at Bismuth. "This… this is rich. _You_ started it all. The moment of my life that went on a never-ending downward spiral for thousands of years!"

Bismuth rolled her eyes. "Yes, you made that much very clear back on the beach while we waited for Peri," she said. "But who exactly are you helping here by skirting around the subject, hm?"

No one. Lapis knew that. She never wanted to think about this part of her life ever again; that's the problem. "You'll be dragging me down to relive those horrible memories _again_ … because you're too _dense_ to understand what you did to me!"

Greg was on a fast track to losing his patience. He was glad Bismuth was compliant, but it didn't mean much if Lapis refused to communicate. "For crying out loud, Lapis! You just listened to that _really_ messed up story Peridot shared with you all, and you can't bring yourself to open yourself up to others STILL?!"

Bismuth was glad Greg brought that up; a pity she hadn't thought to. "He's right. I saw it; you looked _sick_ after hearing that. Peridot's too young to know what thousands of years of just _living_ is like, never mind living in misery. But if you think about it, doesn't that make it worse for a young gem? It hasn't been long enough for her to make peace with that part of herself, and she's terrified to look back any more than she already has! It's all _fresh wounds_ , Lapis! Whatever happened between you and me, I don't even remember. You're gonna have to spit it out if you want me to own up to it! So what're you gonna do?"

Lapis hadn't thought about it like that. Was that why Peridot shared that disturbingly graphic story of her Homeworld days? Did she plan it like that all along because she knew a stubborn teammate chose to stay wallowing in misery all because they happened upon a teammate she had a bad history with?

She thought she had known her former roomie very thoroughly. Lapis could tell she was still bitter over her decision to flee with all of their belongings. And that talk the two had moments before leaving Earth… Lapis already knew this Steven situation had legitimately messed with more than just Peridot's emotional state. In spite of all that, Peridot wasn't succumbing; if anything, she grew stronger every time she withstood these attacks. There was a good chance her leadership capability would skyrocket once they made it to Homeworld. There was an equally good chance Peridot just might turn into a renegade killing machine until she found her center of gravity. Like Greg, Lapis could tell just by listening to the subtle shifts in her voice and how she spoke that Peridot definitely wasn't keeping herself together as well as she claimed. It was so random and inconsistent, on top of that. No one could identify a symptom if there was no rhyme or reason to them. The only thing that Lapis knew was a constant was Steven.

Maybe she would get better, or she could possibly get even worse. Lapis just knew they couldn't go on much longer like this. Taking that into account, and seeing that Bismuth had been very civil to her despite Lapis knowing she didn't deserve that courtesy, she took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and faced her larger companion.

"I… …. f- _fine!_ If that's what it takes!"

Bismuth and Greg quietly let out of sigh of relief.

"I was caught in the middle of a battle featuring your _Rebellion_ ," Lapis began; her tone dripped with venom. "I wanted no part in it. I was just visiting… and in an instant, became an innocent bystander who became collateral damage."

That alone explained so much for Bismuth. For being a die-hard warrior for Rose Quartz to thwart oppression, getting an innocent civilian trapped within it was… guilt-inducing, to say the least.

"I tried, _really_ tried, to make it out of there peacefully," Lapis recounted. Part of her was pleased to see Bismuth finally understanding the implications. "And I nearly did. But out of nowhere… I was poofed by an attack from behind. I did nothing to provoke an attack… I was just trying to _leave_! But instead, at the last second, I was ambushed. And the culprit? You, _Bismuth_."

Greg looked to Bismuth, shocked. Bismuth herself needed a moment to recollect her thoughts. She really didn't remember doing this…

"Let me guess. You're going to tell me it was some other Bismuth?"

"I was Rose Quartz's finest solider," a solemn Bismuth stated. "I was there for every battle… if there were other Bismuths in our ranks, I would have known. It had to have been me…"

Lapis leaned forward to bark out at her fellow Peri-prisoner. "But still, you're going to feign ignorance of what you did to me?! Do you have any idea what I've had to live through due to your actions?!"

"Not yet, but I'm sure I'll hear of them eventually," Bismuth calmly answered; her positive attitude slowly made a comeback. "I'm sincerely sorry, Lapis Lazuli. You getting into this mess just because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time… felt like crack right in the gem. Try and understand… I've engaged in thousands of battles. Hundreds of thousands, even. I was the field commander. It's very hard to pluck one specific moment from my memory back then. And since it's been this long… everything starts to blur together. But what I do know is that I never went after non-hostile gems. That goes against my code of honor; everything I stand for. If you were posing no threat, the only reason I could have attacked you is… mistaken identity."

"So that's it?" Lapis crossed her arms and her eyes. Her rage seemed to have been mildly quelled. "Mistaken identity… seriously? That's all it took to ruin my life..?"

Bismuth frowned down at her. "Lapis, there are countless gems who _lost their lives_ for less than that. I'm sorry I started a nasty chain reaction in your life, but I couldn't have seen that coming. I can't change what I did, and I'm sorry for that. But…"

She reached out and gently placed a hand on Lapis' shoulder. The shorter gem turned her head to look her in the eye. She no longer looked angry; just frustrated and unsure of how to move forward from this.

"If it'll turn you back into that dry humor wise-crackin' gem who keeps our leader in line, I'll do anything to make it up to you. You probably don't believe me, but I think you're one fine gem for company, Lapis." That elicited a shocked look from the gem she addressed. "And I'd love nothing more than to move past all that crap that happened during war time. What I care about now is gettin' to know you 're in an era of peace, now. " Bismuth paused a bit as she remembered life wasn't exactly that peaceful this very minute. "The fighting we're doing right now is to maintain that peace. And nobody spreads peace and good will quite like Steven Universe, don't you think?"

Finally, the tiniest hint of a smile formed on Lapis' lips. "You're not wrong about that," she agreed; her voice sounded much gentler now. "If you want to make this up to me, though…" She looked to the chamber a few feet away that only showed her own reflection. "Help me help her out. I thought Peridot had sorted herself out just before we left Earth, but she's getting harder and harder to read. And I've lived with her."

"Aw, Lapi. I was already gonna do that," Bismuth warmly assured her. "I've only known her a few days, but she grows on you like a weed. And I'm with you on her behavior; I think it's more than just the pressure of leading us gettin' to her."

"There's one thing I know that's made her so unstable," Lapis mentioned, but cut herself off there. "But I can't say more than that.. it's her secret to share. If we do our mission right, that problem will take care of itself. If you don't think helping Peridot's enough to redeem yourself, then make sure you keep us safe when we get out there. You do that, and I'll do my best to cover you, too."

"Sounds like a deal." Bismuth offered her hand, which Lapis cautiously took. One handshake later, each gem smiled as the glass chamber around them ascended until it fully disappeared back into the ceiling. Greg, over by the control panel, grinned at the two and gave them a thumbs-up gesture of approval.

"I'm really proud of you both," he told them. "That might not mean much coming from a human, but…"

"You kiddin' me?" Bismuth asked him. "You're the one who won Rose Quartz's heart, out of thousands of years of contenders for the same honor. You're a man who'll go down in history one day, so I consider your praise an honor!"

"And without you, Steven never would have come into our lives," Lapis added. "And I like Steven a lot. You raised him, so I think I need to thank you for teaching him all the right things. At first I thought bringing you with us was a terrible idea, but… I've never been happier to be so wrong!"

"You two, honestly…" Greg waved his hand dismissively as he struggled to take all of that glowing praise all at once. "Seriously, I'm feeling a lot more optimistic about our mission."

Lapis glanced over to the chamber again. "Let me guess: she didn't tell you what she's doing in there."

"You'd be right," Greg affirmed. "Lapis, do you have any idea what she could be doing?"

"For once… no; I haven't got a clue," the gem replied. "It's weird now that I think about it. Peridot's been such an open book until she reformed."

Bismuth tilted her head. "Just throwing it out there… you think she's going out of her way to hide her inherent weaknesses, so we won't think less of her as a leader?"

Lapis nodded. "That's part of it, at least. Let's just hope she gets her act together when we land." She looked to the screen that displayed their destination details. 45 minutes remained until they reached Homeworld's atmosphere. The planet itself seemed to be visible from a great distance. "So she's not coming out until that timer runs out, right?"

"Mm-hmm. And it looks like we still have enough time to do what you suggested before, Bismuth!"

"What's that?" Bismuth looked to Greg, who walked over to his seat. "Oh, you mean when I said we oughta have ourselves some fun?"

"You bet!" Greg grabbed his guitar. "Music's always been the best remedy for me. How about you two join me and try it out for yourself? You never know if you'll ever get another chance at this."

Bismuth approached the man. "Ooh, I'm in! I'm always in for trying something new before I'm out there in the battlefield again, takin' care of Bismuth!"

For the first time, Lapis let herself openly chuckle at her teammate's gimmick. "Well, it beats staring at a mirror tube or the horrible planet coming into view. I'm in."

Greg smirked. "I think you just gave me an idea what song to play…"

* * *

 _"And I'll be takin' care of Bismuth! Everyday!"_

" _Takin' care of Bismuth! Every way!"_

" _I've been takin' care of Bismuth! It's all mine!"_

" _Takin' care of Bismuth and working overtime!"_

Peridot had no idea what she was in for when she finally emerged from her chamber, but this? This was the very last thing, of _all_ ideas ever, she thought she'd ever see.

"Am I cracked, or is this real life?" she asked, sounding… appropriately weirded out.

"Peridot! Welcome back!" Bismuth greeted. "You ain't cracked, sweetie. We're just tryin' out all the new things we can before we do what we came here to do!"

Peridot didn't look all that impressed, but she had more of a "whatever" vibe to her demeanor opposed to the strict authoritarian she had been before she went into the chamber. "Whatever makes you two happy with no intent to crack each other," she conceded. There was maybe half the volume of her voice than normal, but it wasn't due to her trying to adopt some new persona. It sounded like a dry throat.

"You don't sound so good," Greg noticed immediately. Call it a parental instinct. "Need something to drink?"

Lapis recognized the symptoms of strained vocal chords in her former roommate as well. "Here, we can use some of my water-" She started to open it, then sighed when she caught the scent of the water she gathered. "Oh, I forgot this is seawater. Sorry."

"I was gonna say gargling salt water helps with sore throats, but seawater is pretty gross," Greg admitted. "No worries, though. I've got plenty of drinking water." He took out a small bottle of water, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to Peridot. "Here you go."

Peridot accepted it and promptly took a drink. "Wow, thanks… I feel better already."

A tone emitted from the system as the ship inched ever closer to Homeworld, which ominously took up more of the view.

"And not a moment too soon. You all should take a seat," Peridot advised her crew. The water definitely helped soothe her throat; her voice still sounded a little weak, but there was an audible improvement. "I'll need to switch the controls back to manual in about a minute."

The others returned to their seats. There were plenty of places to sit, but the interior was built with the intent on having enough room for everyone they rescue added in. So while the ship was quite roomy now, it was bound to get cramped on the return trip. Everyone opted to sit close together, mostly to keep by close to Peridot, where they had the best view of their destination.

"So, it finally happened. You've rambled on and on so much, you nearly lost your voice," Lapis stated. She was speaking in jest, but she was also genuinely curious about something. "Though your voice sounded just fine before you snubbed us. How-"

"Seriously, Lapis?" Peridot didn't bother to look back. "Just shut up and enjoy the view like everybody else." She took another swig of her water bottle, to which Lapis just frowned and huffed at.

It turned out Peridot didn't just say that to blow Lapis off. Greg was in awe, but that was to be expected. Bismuth was equally mesmerized, but for different reasons. Everyone in the ship knew full well they were about to enter a wicked world, but it was hard to resist taking in the visual of approaching a planet and skirting the edge of its atmosphere and outer space. Lapis couldn't bring herself to enjoy this for aesthetic reasons; all this brought back was bad memories. While Bismuth held the same sentiments about Homeworld as her fellow gems, it had been a long, _long_ time since she had seen her world of origin.

Gradually, the darkness of space and the sea of stars that adorned it began to fade out. Light poured in from below, which made everyone but Peridot squint their eyes shut while adjusting to its overwhelming presence. For the pilot herself, well… it was proof that her visor was of _some_ use.

"We've officially entered Homeworld's atmosphere," she confirmed. "Commencing PeriLuck's descent in ten seconds." She briefly looked to the others, who were just now getting their eyes adjusted to the atmospheric shift. "Better grab on to something," she advised them. "I'd rather not have any of you crash your skulls into the ceiling. We've got no time to deal with concussions."

No time for snappy remarks; everyone strapped in and clung to something sturdy before the intense, shaking descent. Lapis blindly reached for the sturdiest thing within reach and clung on, only to freeze up and realize she had just clung to Bismuth's arm by mistake.

"S-sorry," she muttered, but Bismuth had her pause before she leaped away in embarrassment.

"That's fine! I'm probably better to grab on than anything else during a landing," she assured the flustered Lapis, who ultimately chose to keep herself attached to Bismuth for the duration of the rough descent. A little over a minute later, their elevation was low enough for Peridot to shift the ship's position back to where it was before, where at that point, everyone else released their holds and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't think I could have asked for better out of a rush job," a much cheerier Peridot said. "You did an amazing job constructing the parts, Bismuth. If I didn't know better, I never would've guessed this ship is your first."

"Aw, how sweet of you to say." Bismuth was beyond flattered. "But your design specs and engineering had a big part in this too, so don't sell yourself short."

Peridot smirked. "Who said I was?" Both Greg and Bismuth shared a hearty laugh at that.

A moment later, various columns, and spires became visible, and soon after some remains of various Kindergartens. The sight-seeing became much less pleasant all of a sudden. Dreary colors and dead, overused remains of land and rock formations sucked all the joy out of the ship.

"Never thought I'd be seeing this place ever again," Bismuth muttered quietly. "Looks way more worn down than it did when I left."

"I never wanted to see this place again," Lapis added. "Looks like Peridot's right about there not being any more open water resources. It makes this planet look all the more barren… and dead."

"Gotta admit, this is really depressing to look at," Greg muttered.

"It's good that you all feel that way," Peridot spoke up. "This should be all the more motivation for you not to screw up and leave anyone behind before we leave. Because if we _ever_ have to come back to this cavity-infested filth pit after this…"

"You made your point," Lapis sighed out. "How far away are we from where the Diamonds are?"

"It should be a little under 10 minutes before we reach Facet 5. It's not exactly "close" to where we need to be, but Homeworld's method of transport continues to be much more advanced than Earth's. We just need to play it cool when we cross by the facility I primarily worked in. Which reminds me…"

Peridot set the controls back to autopilot and began conducting some kind of search on the view screen.

"Reminds you what?" asked Bismuth.

"I intended to look up Homeworld's Most Wanted list. You definitely won't be on it, Bismuth," Peridot assured her. "I just need to see how much Lapis and I will need to stay out of the public eye- wait, what? _Really?I_ Hahah, that's a riot!"

"Now what?" Lapis felt she'd deeply regret asking her superior anything one of these days.

"They took me off the list!" Peridot cheered. "But _Jasper_ is still on it, can you believe that?!"

"Too bad Homeworld will never know you're the one who incapacitated her," Lapis teased. "Are you seeing me on there at all, by the way?"

Peridot shook her head. "I'm not seeing any Lapis Lazulis listed here at all, let alone you. Do you know for a fact you were on the wanted list in the first place?"

"I wouldn't know; Homeworld doesn't exactly deliver news to Earth, so…"

Peridot let out a heavy sigh of relief. "I guess Yellow Diamond getting even with me on Earth was enough reason to have me dropped. Giant clod probably thought she took me out for good."

"Either way, this is good news for you guys, isn't it?" Greg inquired.

" _Extremely_ good news," Peridot answered with overwhelmed enthusiasm. "I means I won't have to lure some other Peridot in an alley and pacify her to get her limb enhancers. I can just do things the legit way and no one will bat an eye. Heck, I could return right back to my old quadrant, to my old _console_ , even, and no one would notice or care!"

"Looks like PeriLuck's giving us good fortune all around," Bismuth surmised. "Say, are they gonna be okay about me and Lapi followin' you? No suspicion or anything?"

"You should be fine for the most part," Peridot assured. "It won't be exclusively be me-wannabes we'll see in the area. Plenty of different gems with different tasks have to take shortcuts through different branches to optimize their travel time." She let out a sigh. "Though I'll bet we'll see more Peridots around than any other gem; Facet 5 alone wouldn't be able to handle all of the maintenance on Homeworld… so we were mass-produced like crazy to make sure supply can meet up with demand. It's why Era 2s like me exist, even if we're inferior to our Era 1 counterparts in every aspect."

"Who cares about what Era you were made in? You're still you, Peridot. A better "you" doesn't exist; none of those Era 1s have the personality and heart you've got," Greg adamantly told her. "You're way ahead of your kind as I see it."

That made Peridot's lip quiver a bit while she held back on shedding a tear. "That's… definitely something your offspring would say if he was here," she said sincerely. "You taught him well, PUU. I reward you with my utmost respect."

"We'll make sure Steven knows how much you've really helped us out here, Greg," Lapis promised. "Just wait a little bit longer…"

Greg chuckled and wiped back a tiny tear of his own. "Well, I'm honored you brought me along. You ladies are the finest gems I've ever had the pleasure to work with. Now cut it out before you get me all choked up!"

Minutes later, the PeriLuck made its way to what looked like a proper intergalactic metropolis. In the distance, a bright pink structure that looked like a pair of human legs towered over nearly everything else - the sole exception being the pure white bust-shaped silhouette sat even further in the distance.

"You see that?" Bismuth pointed out the legs. "That's what Steven and the others traveled in to get here. So we know where we oughta head once we land."

" _That's_ a ship?" Peridot wasn't sure to make of it. "I'd say something about that improbable design… but this ship was made from flying arms. And I did have that hand once upon a time…"

Lapis squinted to see if she could pick up any other details, but they were simply too far away at the moment. "It would be too risky to land closer to that area, I guess. This place is already taunting us…"

"You'd be surprised how efficient the public transport system is here." Peridot briefly looked between her fellow gems and shrugged. "I mean, I'm assuming it either didn't exist or was in its prototype phase in your time. Good thing you don't have to worry about losing your way… you're _so lucky_ to have me!"

The smug, cat-like smile on Peridot's face was endearing, but a cause for concern, as it was a radical departure from her demeanor just over an hour ago.

It was just a moment later that a landing site came into a view. The structure it was built around had a bore a label; one in Gem language, naturally. Three of the four Crystal Gem backups could easily read it, at least.

2F5L.

"There's our starting point. Now we just need to figure out where to land…" Peridot was glad air traffic was so minimal this time of day in Homeworld; her ship stuck out like a sore thumb and likely would have brought about unwanted attention.

"There's a lot of gates around here, Lapis noted. "But why aren't people using that one?" She pointed over where, indeed, one intergalactic airport gate was closed with no signs of life or spacecrafts to be seen.

"Ooh! Good eye, Lapis!" Peridot immediately adjusted her steering and shifted the controls to prepare for landing. "If it's not being used, it's obviously out of order. A defective gate means no one will be around until it's fixed. And I'll look into that the second we make landfall. Lapis, you'd better start filling up your portable water reserves. Bismuth, suit up."

The PeriLuck finally landed in a rather strategic spot, placed in a spot where it wouldn't be visible from all angles save for one. Lapis and Bismuth did their last-minute preparations while Peridot got out of her seat and invited Greg to take her place in it. "Right, I promised the Chauffeur a crash course. I designed the console myself, so this should be a simple task for you."

Greg nodded and looked down at the console, not looking confident at all. "All those buttons, though…"

"For your services, we're talking a 4-button game here," Peridot assured him. "See? They're a little bigger than the rest and highlighted right next to the gear shifters."

"R-right. I think I see 'em now…"

"So listen closely: the green button is your "on" button. Blue button shuts it down. White button is a quick boot-up. Hopefully you won't need it, but if we're getting chased out of the building on the way back, we can't afford to wait for the engines to warm up. The technicolor button down there is the emergency liftoff initiator. You'll shoot up to space in a matter of seconds. And if the Diamonds are right on our butts, that's our only chance to outspeed them. Any questions?"

"Sounds pretty straightforward to me," Greg answered, nodding. "By the way, I know you were eager to use Lion, but…"

"I knew there had to be a catch," Peridot grumbled. "What is it?"

Greg looked to Lion, who had woken up from his nap and taken a bit of a walk to stretch his legs. He otherwise looked indifferent.

"He's not known to be _consistent_ , is the thing," Greg explained. "Even Steven has trouble sometimes getting Lion to do what he wants." That reminded Peridot how Steven had to bribe the furry organic just to take them to the Moon. "But he gets on well with Connie, so I'm sure you can use him without Steven. It's just… not a guarantee he'll warp you right to Steven."

Peridot narrowed her eyes at the pink beast. "So our gambit just turned into a gamble. _Fantastic_. I can justify Lapis and Bismuth following me around, but Lion's gonna draw _all_ of the attention."

"That's too bad," Lapis remarked, clearly let down. "Maybe there's a reason he won't do it."

"What, did you think of one?" asked Bismuth, who now donned a full-body suit of steel.

Lapis shrugged. "Kind of… since we know Steven's most likely with or near the Diamonds, if we warp to him right now and they're _with_ him, that's going to…"

"Trigger a full-blown massacre right from the get-go," Peridot finished. "We also can't be sure that Steven's with his full group right now. Connie might be elsewhere… the Crystal Gems could be bubbled away in a throne room for all we know. _Gyaaaah!_ Did we seriously bring Lion along for nothing, then?!"

"I wouldn't count him out," Greg replied. He looked so purely optimistic. "Not totally. Try and appeal with him for a minute, why don't you? He cares a lot for Steven and Connie. I figure he'd be chomping at the bit to follow you, but maybe he's trying to tell you that warping's a no-go for now. There might be a better time to do it later."

"Except he can't follow us and _we're not coming back here without Steven and the rest_ ," Peridot emphasized with frustration. "How are we gonna know when we can use him to warp? How will he find us on his own?!"

"Like I said, give him a good talk," Greg advised. "He loves Steven, and so do all of you. Prove that to him, and he'll come right when you need him. I know Lion stands out a lot, but you'd be surprised how elusive he can be. I'm sure he'll come to your rescue when you least expect it."

Reluctantly, Peridot nodded and knelt down to meet Lion at eye level. Just then, Pumpkin came out and scampered to them both. "Oh- _Pumpkin!_ I can't believe I almost forgot to say goodbye to you. C'mere, we need to have a talk with your best buddy Lion."

With Pumpkin comfortably cradled in Peridot's arms, Lion finally turned his attention to the pair and seemed to regard them with some interest. "H-hey, Lion. I want to thank you for giving Pumpkin a cozy place to sleep these past few nights." Peridot figured it would be best to open up with some sincere gratitude. When it came to animals, Peridot was something of a hit-or-miss case. She hoped with all her heart that this time, she could knock it out of the park.

"But, look… there's something we need to talk about. Reach a mutual understanding… about Steven, you know? Uh, let's make this simple, 'kay? Can you raise your right paw for yes and your left paw for no?"

Pride welled up within Peridot when she felt Lion raise his right paw and briefly and rest it against her right hand. "G-great. Great start, then! Lion, I need to know if Lapis is right, and you can tell that now's a bad time to warp straight to Steven. Is it really not an option now?" Up came the left paw.

That was immensely disappointing… but Peridot had to take it in stride. It was better to know for sure than dwelling on what-ifs. "Is it because of the Diamonds?" The left paw went down and the right came up again.

"I see… thank you." More than anything, Peridot was just relieved to get confirmation through Lion that Steven was _alive_. "Um, I'm about to head off and rescue Steven, you see. But it'll take a while. I just wanted to know… clearly you can sense him from a distance. You'd come to him immediately if his life was in danger, wouldn't you?"

Once again, right paw. "How about us? I really want to take you with us, but you won't be safe that way. If for any reason we get cornered with no way out, will you come and rescue us like you would with Steven?"

This time, Lion didn't raise either paw. He just stared intensely into Peridot's shielded eyes, as if he was passing judgment on the little gem. Peridot would be lying if she said she didn't feel a great deal of pressure and fear. Lion did nothing conclusive after his study of Peridot, but he lean forward and sniff at Peridot's chest. That, of course, made her squeak and stumble back. She would have covered herself with her arms in defense, but they were still occupied with Pumpkin now. So she had to settle for holding Pumpkin closer to her body, but upon doing so, felt something foreign yet familiar press up against her skin.

"Oh…!" Peridot figured it out. Quickly, she balanced Pumpkin for her left arm to keep her held up while she quickly dug into her uniform with her right hand and pulled out the picture of herself and Steven. She quickly presented it to Lion. "You wanted to see this, didn't you?"

Indeed it was. Lion scrutinized the picture, then shifted his glance to Peridot and back again to the picture. It was like airport security checking a "randomly selected" passenger's ID. The longer this went on, the more Peridot's smile faded into a shaky pout of worry and desperation. Her eyes pleaded him to believe in her, but it seemed he wanted her to spit out the words he already knew were in her heart.

"Wh-what else do you want from me?" Peridot quietly asked. "You're obviously more intelligent than the average lion… I, I really shouldn't have to explain this to you!"

Lion was not impressed. Peridot would have banged her fists on the floor in anger if she didn't have Pumpkin with her… that gave her an idea. She held up her beloved pet for Lion to judge.

"You love Pumpkin, don't you, Lion? I've seen you two get along well a lot lately. I-I mean, why else would Pumpkin prefer to sleep in your mane over me? You're going to make Pumpkin really sad if you don't help me in helping Steven…"

That wasn't what Lion wanted to hear. He was about to readjust himself and just fall asleep right in front of Peridot before she screeched, _"HEY, WAIT! D-don't, please don't!"_ Now she was on the verge of tears. "Y-you're kind of a jerk, you know? You've been watching us work day-in and day-out to make it this far. I know you've seen me with this picture, Lion. You wouldn't have made me bring it out if you didn't…"

That seemed to be winning Lion over again, as he paid full attention to Peridot.

"Tell me you already know… why I needed this," Peridot pleaded. She was rewarded with… a left paw. " _Rrrrghghh!_ You **SUCK!** "

Her right hand covered her mouth immediately. Quiet gasps were heard from the three onlookers. Peridot didn't dare utter another word while the picture quietly slipped out of her hand, and Pumpkin had slid onto her lap.

Lion stood up; he was easily taller than a previously-kneeling, now sitting Peridot who had froze up in terror. She offered no resistance when Lion started to make steps towards her, which prompted Pumpkin to flee from her caretaker's lap. Peridot's balance was once again compromised, as she fell back further. Her right hand still covered her mouth; she was _not_ speaking of her own volition again after that screw-up. All she had propping up her body was her left elbow. No one else was really sure what to make of what was going on, other than that Peridot must have pissed Lion off _badly_ with that outburst.

But finally, Peridot was given a bit of a break. Lion angled his ear by Peridot's face and nudged it against her lip-sealing hand. It only took a moment for Peridot to catch on to what Lion wanted from her, and let out a huge sigh of relief when she removed her right hand from her mouth. She carefully scooted herself to sit upright again before she bent over and cupped her mouth against his ear and started to whisper to the pastel-colored feline.

Surprisingly, Peridot's words were heard by no one other than Lion. They quickly understood the implications and occupied themselves with other preparations while their young leader spent a couple of minutes spilling her heart out to Steven's pet. A very obvious green blush marred her face when Peridot finally finished up, and Lion rewarded her with a lick to her left cheek, which prompted a giggle out of the diminutive gem.

"Haha-okay, okay! I take it you're going to help us!" Peridot thanked Lion and gave him a quick hug before pulling herself to her feet. She tried her best to regain her composure, but that blush hadn't fully faded away yet. Lapis and Bismuth were in a silent agreement to just let her be this time.

"S-so, is everybody ready?" Peridot looked around the interior of her ship. Greg was in the pilot's seat with all of the defensive gadgets in the seat beside him. He smiled warmly and gave her a thumbs-up. Already standing by the hatch, Bismuth and Lapis smiled at her and silently nodded in unison.

"Great!" Peridot went to snatch her tablet, which she would no doubt need in place of the limb enhancers. She messed around with it a bit while she strapped it to her arm. "Just gotta back up these files really quick- annnnd done." She approached her fellow gems. "I'm not planning on losing this on the battlefield, but you can never be too careful."

It was finally time. With heartfelt best wishes and promises that Steven and the others would be with them the next time they met, Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot walked on Homeworld soil for the first time in a long time. Well, some longer than others.

* * *

The first thing the Crystal Gems did was inspect the defunct gate and exploit it to make for a quick getaway. Unsurprisingly, Peridot diagnosed the problem within a minute, saying it was an easy fix. Before commencing on fixing the gate (in secret, of course - they didn't want to give the Homeworld citizens a reason to be anywhere near their hiding place), a hidden pressure plate uncovered a hole. The tiny Peridot insisted to do the exploring, and found that it was a simplistic version of the tube transporters that were common in central Homeworld, only this one must have been meant for supplies rather than citizens. The purpose for this was made apparent when the end of the tunnel led Peridot back to the ground level just a few feet away from the PeriLuck. That led to a rather clever escape plan. Now what they knew Steven was still alive with his life not in immediate danger, time could be spared to secure their escape route.

It was decided, ultimately, to not fix the gate. In fact, Peridot jammed a screwdriver into the console multiple times just to ensure it wouldn't be operational for a while. The actual escape route would be the secret chute. It really paid off to have a technological prodigy in the team, because it barely took over 5 minutes for the Crystal Gems to repurpose the chute as a direct transport from the bridge straight up into the hatch of the PeriLuck. A quick modification made it so the chute had a strong suction that would quickly take in anyone who stepped inside. It wouldn't be a comfortable landing inside the ship, but that was a small price to pay for efficiency. Now they had a hidden escape route with an added bonus of letting the enemy believe they've chased the rebels into an inescapable corner due to the broken gate that everyone would assume one would try to flee through. Peridot did say misdirection and trickery were her specialty outside of everything else she was so great at.

With the assurance that Lion would let them know when it was time to rush to Steven or save them from a surprise ambush and now a very secure exit, Peridot led her fellow Crystal Gems further into the terminal. The structure was very nondescript… ordinary. There was no shortage of corridors lined up among the walls of what was no doubt the main hub area. It was quite the populated area, but no one looked twice at the trio. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the gems present here were Peridots - of both eras - which Lapis and Bismuth couldn't stop staring at, until they were nearly caught doing so. Their Peridot stood out flawlessly, being that she was the only Era 2 walking about without limb enhancers. The leader was so thankful to have found such good friends and a happy life on Earth; otherwise the sidelong glances given to her by the nearby passing Peridots would have severely humiliated her. Emboldened with the task of leading the charge to save Steven, and the knowledge of how much she's grown as an individual since the last time she roamed these halls, Peridot felt bigger than any other gem in this facility.

"We're not far from my old work station," she calmly told the others. "There's time to spare, so I'm taking this opportunity to make our lives a little easier for the rest of this trip. Any objections?"

"Lead the way," Lapis replied. For the time being, it seemed Peridot found a healthy balance between competence and compassion, and she was grateful this happened when it needed to.

"We'll follow you anywhere," Bismuth assured her. As they rounded the corner, Peridot spotted one of the two places she needed to hit up. She stopped, and her allies did the same.

"Actually, when we get to my work station, you won't actually be able to go in there with me; it's an employee-only kind of deal," Peridot informed them. "For now, at least. I've got a plan and a destination. I'll need something else so I don't get laughed out of there, though. So, Bismuth…" She unstrapped her tablet from her arm and held it out to her towering friend. "Mind holding this for a bit? I won't be long."

Bismuth nodded and happily accepted her beloved present from Steven. "No need to worry, now. Go on ahead and do what you gotta do."

What she had to do... Peridot nodded and happily marched along to what looked like a specialty store, no bigger than a low-tier kind from a mall. The "feelings" she only used to have for places like this started to morph into full-fledged memories as it felt like Peridot had just been here yesterday. It wasn't a friendly-looking establishment, lined from wall to wall with green accessories… more accurately…

"I bet you have one real gem of a story on how you lost your limb enhancers," a Peridot at the front desk remarked. A fellow Era 2, nearly matching Peridot to a tee aside from all three points of her hair heavily curved inward. Unlike the full visor 5XG had, this one wore something that more resembled a scouter that only covered her left eye. Peridot turned around and gave the gem a dirty look.

"Cut the crap, 9FC," Peridot responded. She had no choice but to suppress her full anger, no matter how badly she wanted to let loose on this particular one. "Maybe if you bothered to apply yourself, you could go out on interplanetary missions and be of _some_ worth to Yellow Diamond, just like me." It sickened Peridot to even say that last part, but she wasn't about to spit on the good fortune of no longer being on Homeworld's Most Wanted.

"Still a shameless suck-up for our Diamond, I see," 9FC noted. "If only more of us had your drive… well, go on ahead, now. I believe I remember your size from last time."

Peridot stifled a sigh as she hopped up and strapped her midsection against what looked somewhat like a torture rack from Earth. There were extended panels for each of her four limbs, which were automatically spread out and strapped in. It felt so shameful, yet it fleshed out yet another memory of Peridot's that was little more than a feeling before. That happened the same day she emerged, of course, when she got her original limb enhancers. She had known absolutely nothing back then outside of her basic function, so she couldn't feel ashamed… just indifferent. When it came to the process of attaching the extensions to their tiny limbs, roughly half of the Peridots that emerged from the same Kindergarten expressed varying degrees of discomfort and even pain. The ones that screamed especially loud were shattered on the spot. But 5XG? Even with the vivid details coming back to her, she held the same bored face as before, not even breaking it to flinch.

Peridot wasn't sure if that meant she was super-resilient or if she was just that empty as a sentient being. She recalled it took a few brutal shatterings of nearby Peridots for her to develop a sense of self-perseverence, which grew to ambition in the following years. Ambition was what got her assigned to Earth in the first place. It might have even been Peridot first seeing Yellow Diamond and her ambition that really sparked her own, as she dedicated herself to working hard in the hopes that one day Yellow Diamond would notice her. Peridot very nearly admitted that detail to her crew on the trip here; that when all's said and done, she really was indebted to Yellow Diamond for being where she was today. It was the last thing Yellow Diamond wanted to have happened, sure, but sometimes Peridot wondered if events would have played out the same way if some other Peridot had been chosen for the Earth mission.

Both Bismuth and Lapis peeked out the store window to see what was going on. They both turned away once 9FC came back carrying a set of limb enhancers. Lapis in particular did not look to be okay with this. She bit her cheek, trying to stifle the triggered frustration that nearly burst out of her when she realized what was happening. Bismuth wanted to ask her what the problem was, but didn't want to make any noise, considering their eavesdropping would be considered suspicious activity if they happened to be noticed.

"So, you're really not going to tell me how you lost your old set, 5XG?"

"It's not your job to ask questions," Peridot fired back. "You don't see me asking how you turned out to be such a pathetic clod and an embarrassment to our already lowly-regarded kind, now do you?"

9FC obviously didn't appreciate that response and felt zero remorse forcing Peridot's right arm to fit into its respective extension. Peridot barely held down the pained squeak that dared to escape her throat, at the cost of being unable to resist wincing in pain this time.

"Oh, what's this? 5XG, showing signs of _pain?_ This is unheard of," 9FC realized with a faint trace of wicked glee on her face. "You had such a reputation for being durable!" She increased the pressure on the right limb, applying it far longer than needed. "Did Earth make you soft, by any chance?"

That might as well have been a kick to the gut. This made Peridot all the more glad she committed herself to do _one_ personal thing here once she got out of this… if she did. She could tell 9FC was deliberately trying to cripple her. She wasn't going to bother begging for her fellow Peridot to stop; she risked letting out a loud cry throughout the terminal: the kind of cry that could get her shattered, just like the fragile ones from her Kindergarten. And it was painfully obvious the Peridot that already had her limb enhancers had no intention of stopping this anytime soon. Her right arm extension was more or less on her already, just not fastened in. Her arm suddenly felt heavy, and she quickly caught on: 9FC had unstrapped her arm from the table just so she could twist it unhindered.

"Is this how you apply yourself, hm?!" The extremely sadistic 9FC was hellbent on getting her former coworker to scream and engineer the exact kind of scene Peridot was desperately trying to avoid. Eventually, she got a little bored just working the one limb when there were three yet untouched by what the sinister Peridot thought was just desserts. "I think you just might have outgrown this set, 5XG. It was _murder_ trying to fit that meaty limb into the socket. Let's see if your left arm will be more… compliant!"

Peridot's mouth opened wide, with barely a whisper of a scream escaping the brutal surge of pain coming from the other half of her body. Just as before, her left arm was being forced into the enhancer in the roughest, most unprofessional way possible. The left arm was set free much sooner as well, so 9FC could commence to twisting it much sooner. Her body lurched forward; her lifeless right arm felt more like an anchor tethered to her body. She continued to hold herself back from making any kind of noise; that was exactly what 9FC wanted and beyond not willing to fall for her sabotage scheme, her pride couldn't take giving this sick gem anything more than she was already involuntarily giving her. Now that she was hunched over enough that her hair could hide her face from most angles, she did let herself cry. It was going to happen anyway, but Peridot could tell it wouldn't be until 9FC was set on tearing her legs apart that she'd get to see such a sight. And the arms were definitely more of a priority to mess up; they were everything to a Peridot who could never hope to be anything more than a technician.

A Peridot could lose her legs and still perform her basic function if need be the case. But the arms… losing those would be a death sentence. When Lapis and Bismuth dared to look into the window again to see what was taking so long, both were rightfully horrified.

"Th-that _monster_ …!" Lapis hated having to still keep her voice down. This felt like the worst possible time to be doing it. "Bismuth, we can't watch this! We need to stop her!"

"And get shattered for busting in on a store neither of us have any business being in for dishin' out vigilante justice?! Trust me, we're gonna put a stop to this, but like or not, we gotta do this the Homeworld way! I think even these tyrants will know how senseless this is." She spotted an Era 1 Peridot in the distance, and another closer to Lapis' side.

"Who do we run to for help, Bismuth?! This place has changed too much; we can't possibly know who to even go to!"

"When in doubt, trust that gem kind will look after their own! Y'know, besides _that_ maniac. You take the Peridot on the right; I got the left!"

Lapis nodded to her partner. "You'd better be right about this!"

Both dashed over to the Era 1 Peridots and explained the situation. For once, the pair found Homeworld gems that actually had a sense of gem decency. Well, that, and it was just plain wasteful to intentionally cripple a perfectly functional Peridot, let alone one as prolific as 5XG. A gem that irrational couldn't be permitted to roam about and damage their rate of production.

Said maniacal gem had, by that time, exhausted all of the pleasure she could get out of the left arm for the time being and moved on to the left leg, grinding the metal against it. By this point in time, Peridot had gone through so much agony that she barely had the strength to kick 9FC. She was mostly on the floor now anyway, with only her right leg still bound to the rack. After so much silent crying, Peridot's bleary eyes were about out of tears to spill, and even if she did lose her resolve to not scream, she'd barely be able to after this much damage. One scream would've had her pass out, and 9FC wasn't about to let that happen. Not until all four limbs were crippled, anyway.

"What would they say if they saw you right now, 5XG?! Those idiots at the station were _so_ impressed with how you could pretend to be a Diamond! You turned your nose up at us, you called _me_ Green Pearl that one time, remember?! Oh, they had a _good_ laugh at my expense after you left! Remember how you'd do that cute little "That will be all" and how those idiots 7SJ and 1YA thought you were someone to look up to?! But you never respected any of them! No, you _always_ thought you were better than us!"

Peridot could barely register 9FC's words; she'd been going on about this for a while now once she snapped and realized she couldn't get her prey to scream. The sad part was… while there was some exaggeration thrown in there, 9FC wasn't wrong. Words and context transformed more of her old "feelings" into real memories - and no, she couldn't really make a case for herself. She _was_ snooty, and that only worsened as her skills improved. But given the nature of how Homeworld worked, she was always rewarded for it. Only mimicking the Diamonds was something she could have gotten in trouble over, but by the time she developed enough of an ego to do it, she had also become clever enough to know exactly when she could and couldn't get away with it. Every time a Peridot like 9FC tried to snitch on her, she would ask the snitch to prove it, and they never could. That would result in the snitch getting in trouble instead, or in some cases shattered.

Peridot realized she'd been responsible for a lot more lives being lost than she originally believed, even if these cases were an indirect involvement. Peridot still remembered smirking with satisfaction seeing one of her own getting shattered for trying to get her in trouble. She'd tell the Peridots who witnessed it that would be their fate if they ever tried to rat her out to upper management. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she was little more than a "Queen Bee" stereotype with a desperate, almost constant need for praise who got really lucky. Ironically, 9FC was a far more sensible gem in her early years. She _felt_ things; sentiments Peridot wouldn't feel until she became stranded on Earth. She seemed to genuinely care about her fellow Peridots, while 5XG saw them as nothing more than pawns to exploit for her own gain. In some ways, it did feel like the wrong Peridot was assigned for the Earth mission. It was depressing, as she knew at this point 9FC was too far gone off the other end to be rehabilitated.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU EVER LISTEN TO ME?!" That was followed up with a solid punch to the face, which would leave a scar on her cheek.

Peridot wished she had the strength, in more ways than one, to truly respond to her fellow gem.

"PERIDOT FACET-2F5L CUT-9FC, CEASE AND DESIST! IN THE NAME OF YELLOW DIAMOND AND BY HER LAW, YOU ARE SENTENCED TO SHATTERING!"

She never would.

The look of being caught by surprise, so caught up in her obsession to break 5XG in every way possible that she knew these were her last moments alive… that's a look that would haunt her victim far worse than the savage torture she just endured. There couldn't be a worse face to feature in her nightmares.

Except for the look of her lifeless eyes as her gem was shattered by laser fire of the authorities.

And topping that, her lifeless body collapsing against Peridot before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

And reigning at the peak of the nightmare mountain was seeing and really _feeling_ the shattered remains of a faulty Peridot fall all over her.

She didn't want to see anymore.

* * *

Bismuth and Lapis rushed over to their fallen comrade but stopped short realizing what she just had to witness to have her life saved.

"Stars almighty…"

"Wh… what can we do now? After this, we can't make her… a-and the others…"

One of the Era 1 Peridots, full name Facet-1F8L Cut-2AB, stepped over to survey the damage. "You two did well. 9FC will never hurt another gem again. Her victim may suffer some long-term trauma due to this, but that's nothing a little work can't fix."

Bismuth wanted to slap the taste out of this Peridot's mouth. Just when she thought she had been right to trust her. "You _can't_ be serious. Look at her! Even if work _was_ enough, and I assure you it ain't, how can you put her to work?! You don't need to be a medical expert to see she's too busted up to do anything! She needs rest!"

The other Peridot, Facet-1E4G Cut-3BB approached the fallen Peridot, who had fallen into catatonic shock. Lapis tried her best not to glare at this one, but she had a feeling the damage was going to be severely downplayed.

"If it were up to us, that's what she would be doing first," 3BB stated. "Unfortunately, our records show that Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG has been absent from work for the better part of this cycle and all of last's. Something about an interplanetary mission to Earth that went on longer than scheduled."

"Sh-she just got back from that today!" Lapis exclaimed. "I mean, we saw her come out from a terminal earlier today! Right, Bismuth?"

Bismuth nodded. "That's right. She finally comes back after a mission that probably took a lot out of her, and _this_ is what she comes home to. And you're gonna send her to work like that?! What are you expecting her to _do?!_ "

"Like I said, it isn't up to me," 3BB reiterated. "And we get cases like this way more often than you think. But Yellow Diamond wants results, not excuses. 5XG just has to complete one work shift, then she'll be taken straight to the infirmary. Her tour of duty is about to start; it's standard protocol to report for work the moment you touch down on Homeworld unless you're transitioning between assignments, and our records don't show any future off-world inspections on her schedule. If she's more than 2 clicks late, she'll get written up by her manager."

"And who is her manager? We can talk on 5XG's behalf," Lapis assured the much larger-in-stature Peridot.

"What is your relation to her?" 2AB asked, clearly regarding them with suspicion.

"Oh, we've worked close by. We see each other on a daily basis, we're practically neighbors!" Bismuth quickly said. She was surprisingly good at making up a cover story. "If that psycho you just shattered showed you anything, it's that 5XG is pretty short on friends, which I think she could really use about right now."

The two Era 1 Peridots looked to each other, then shrugged. A loud crash was heard in the distance elsewhere, making 2AB sigh with aggravation. "I gotta take this. 3BB, mind doing me a solid and wrapping his up for me?"

"Sure thing. Pretty sure I can administer painkillers without you, 2AB."

The enforcer left to deal with the source of the crash, and while Lapis and Bismuth had their reservations, they knew fully well Peridot would be in desperate need of painkillers for a while. They let the medic do her job.

"I know this is horrible, but I can't stop thinking… even after all that, she didn't even poof," Bismuth wondered out loud. "I've seen some mighty gems get poofed by less, is all I'm sayin'."

"She told me before that Peridots are a lot tougher than they look," Lapis said tiredly. "Guess she wasn't making that one up after all…"

"Oh, not at all; Peridots by nature are _very_ difficult to damage to such an extent, especially if they're guarded by a visor like hers is," 3BB spoke up. "You'll notice that for all the parts of her body that were damaged, 5XG never sustained a blow to her forehead where her gem is, and short of impalement, dismemberment, or destabilization, you'll be hard-pressed to poof any Peridot. Even an Era 2."

"That's impressive, though I feel like that did nothing here but make her suffer more than she needed to," Lapis muttered. "Guess it makes sense, though. If Homeworld's technicians were poofed easily, not much would get done, huh?"

"A design oversight like that might have toppled our empire before it got off the ground," 3BB noted. "Praise Yellow Diamond's careful attention to detail! -Oh, that reminds me. You asked for the name of 5XG's manager before, correct?"

"We sure did," Bismuth affirmed. "So who is it?"

"Yellow Pearl. And for your own safety, I don't recommend talking to her even on 5XG's behalf," 3BB. "That might end badly for all three of you."

"... Duly noted," Lapis said with a nod, looking to Bismuth and noticing she was every bit as freaked out to hear this bit of news. "Can you at least trust us to make sure she gets to work on time, then? We don't want to lose her after seeing this."

3BB nodded and stood up. "I was about to ask that favor of you, so by all means. The painkillers should be taking effect shortly, so you'll be able to talk to her before she's scheduled to report in. Just bear in mind she'll be… acting a bit cracked, but that's completely normal. I've given her enough to be free of pain for the duration of her shift, so it would be pertinent of you to direct or take her to the infirmary."

"We'll be sure to do that," Bismuth agreed. "She, uh, lost her limb enhancers during her Earth mission; that's kinda why she was in that store in the first place. Are they all on her right…?"

"All but the right foot, but I went ahead and attached that. Everything else is attached, just… not at all comfortably. I suggest readjusting them when she comes in to rest. Thank you two for seeing her to work; you really are valuable companions. If you'll excuse me, I have other patients to tend to."

Both Lapis and Bismuth let out a huge collective sigh as they sank to the floor nearby Peridot.

"Thought those idiots would never leave," Bismuth murmured.

"I swear, every time I start to think we're doing well for ourselves as a team, something like _this_ has to happen," Lapis lamented. "I can't help but feel like Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst would be looking down on us right now." Just then she noticed the small picture of Steven on the floor nearby. She leaned over to grab it, and sure enough, it was the same one Peridot had been carrying. "I wonder what Steven would think of this… of us."

"We should be thanking our lucky stars that Steven did not have to see that massacre in-person," Bismuth adamantly said. "He'd bring this whole place down with us, I'm afraid. But I think you're being too hard on yourself, Lapis. We just started out this way a couple of days ago. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst… they've had thousands of years to work out the kinks in their teamwork. So it's a pretty unfair comparison at best. And this here… this was bad luck striking us hard."

"I can't believe she would go and get more of those stupid robot parts put on her after I just told her the other day ago that she doesn't need them," Lapis grumbled. "I thought she was past this."

Bismuth looked to their fallen leader, who had been at least looking more at peace since she was given the painkillers. "She said something about it being part of another plan, that she'd get laughed outta the building without 'em," she recounted. "Too much happened in too short a time… can't believe I remembered that much, even."

" _Ffjshhhhsh…_ stupid idiot _clodsh_ …"

"Peridot!" Lapis and Bismuth turned around to see Peridot's eyes crack open. She still looked terrible, but she wasn't in agonizing pain, and showed no signs of being traumatized despite clearly having been.

"Ohh honey, don't you mind us, you need your rest," Bismuth urged. "You leave this to your Big Sis Bismuth, okay? I'll get us out of this."

" _Pppffft,_ okay, _Dad._ Geez, I'm not even dead yet. Don't you be robbin' me blind of that title…"

"You really have no idea how close you got," Lapis said darkly. "We know you're not in your right state of mind, so just don't bother. Let Bismuth take over from here and-"

"Ifff I'm like, sooooo outta my mind, uh. Why is it.. that like… I can remember _exactly_ what I was gonna do next fer my plan, and you two can't? You two dun' look like ya got the crap beat outta yerselves… _mmmhahahah._ At least _I_ got that excuse, but if I still 'member this and you don't… I think you should, like, believe in me just a little bit? _Steven_ would…"

Now Lapis didn't know what to feel. Glad Peridot seemed okay and thankfully painless for the time being? Yes. Worried that Peridot still insisted on carrying out her plan AND maintain leadership even though she clearly wasn't fit to so do now? Yes. Miffed that Peridot had the gall to insult her _and_ Bismuth after what they went though? **Yes.**

She held out the Steven photo and dangled it over Peridot's head."Hi there, Peri!" Lapis used her best imitation of Steven's voice to simulate his presence combined with the picture, in hopes that her high-as-a-kite friend couldn't tell. "Steven here! I'm back! Lapis and Bismuth rescued me while you were asleep! So let's head back to your awesome ship with the awesomer name and head home singing about peace and love and the planet Earth!"

Bismuth had to cover her mouth with _both_ hands to stop herself from immediately busting up into hysterics. This was her first time hearing Lapis do an impression. Peridot, of course, was not so considerate, and was soon cracking up loud enough that Lapis actively had to cover her mouth so as to not rouse attention.

Peridot's laughs died down soon enough. As soon as Lapis uncovered her mouth, she saw her old roommate look positively enraptured. "Ah… ahaha… ow. Okay, it still kinda hurts to laugh. Still, _hilarious_. Y'gotta get into a profession like that when we come back to Earth. And gimme that! That'sh MY gravity stab'lizer!"

"Your what?" Bismuth was left out of the loop on that still, only because Lapis was sure Peridot didn't want that issue to spread out. However, Bismuth had gotten a glimpse of the other picture Peridot offered to Lion as a peace offering. She was slowly piecing it together on her own, but wasn't fully there yet.

With great reluctance, Lapis held out the picture. "If you can take it out of my hands, you can keep it. We need to find a better place to regroup and talk strategy, so if you can stand up in those disgraceful _things_ , prove it to me now."

It just dawned on Lapis that among 9FC's shattered remains, her limb enhancers did not share the same fate and instead collapsed into pieces around Peridot. All the more reason to get out of here, Lapis believed. This particular spot gave her the chills.

Thankfully, the painkillers enabled Peridot to move with relative ease, although she was very prone to swaying about and stumbling over herself. That part could be attributed to other factors: Peridot not being used to wearing the limb enhancements after nearly 8 months, and the fact that Peridot was an extremely clumsy individual. She snagged the Steven picture and held it close to her… though it didn't feel quite right. Artificial fingers didn't allow Peridot to feel the warmth that she always felt when she looked to this picture for solace in the past.

"Th-thanks for that… I needed that reminder," Peridot said tiredly. "And I know you're both gonna try and stop me, but… I gotta go to work now."

" _What?!_ " Lapis was horrified; Bismuth was fearful and confused. "Peridot, we're on a mission! Don't fall for what those Era 1s pulled; you're not even in a good condition to work!"

"Correction… I am absolutely _sublime_ ," Peridot insisted, as best she could in her loopy tone. "I didn't deal with friggin' 9FC of all gems just to fail my next mission cuz my teammates are a bunch of worrywarts. There's somethin' I really need in that work station, alright? Plus I got a plan so great… I-I can't not do it now, not after this." She looked to Lapis and Bismuth; pure sincerity shined from her eyes. "Don't take that away from me, please."

Now her fellow Crystal Gems felt bad. They looked to each other for answers, but neither had a solid one to give.

"You're gonna have to pull off some Diamond-level legendary skill to warrant a full work day, Peri," Bismuth reminded her. "We've got _some_ time to spare, but that's too much."

Peridot sputtered into a fit of giggles. "Oh, _wow!_ You seriously think I'm workin' a full shift? _Ppffft_ , wow. No- no seriously, you're gonna wanna see how I play this. We're gonna get ourselves an all-access path straight to Steven… and I can do something _really cool_. Can I have my tablet back, Bismuth?"

After a moment's hesitation, Bismuth conceded and strapped it to Peridot's right arm - higher up than usual for obvious reasons. "I'll give you a chance, then. What happened here… that was just happenstance. We're holdin' you responsible for doing your job right here, Peri. Only reason I'm lettin' you do this against my better judgment is 'cause you've got some good stuff in you right now. Just don't get too crazy, all right?"

"You're getting rid of those hideous things once we're done with your old job, right?" an indignant Lapis inquired. "I'm sorry, but seeing you like that just-"

"Makes you feel so _short_ , huh?" Peridot finished for her with a laugh. She even gave Lapis a condescending pat on the head to rub it in. It had been a long time since Peridot had been anywhere near this height; she was on par with Bismuth. She wanted to enjoy that while it lasted; it was the only real joy Peridot could derive from these limb enhancers.

Lapis glowered at the blatant disrespect, but Peridot waved it off. "C'mon, now. I thiiiiink I said before you guys can't actually come in 'cause yer not employees here, but I'm gonna give a signal for ya both to come in, 'kay? And I'm keepin' it a surprise, 'cause you'll _know_ it when you see it. Just stay close… and maybe check on me a little better than ya did back there, eh?"

That brought a lightning strike of guilt down on both Lapis and Bismuth. Both had internally despaired over how they could have stopped this if they had just kept looking instead of assuming Peridot had everything handled. And it was such a simple task at that.. they learned the hard way how deceptive those kinds of missions were. They needed to be consistently vigilant and watch out for each other so something like this wouldn't happen again.

Lapis and Bismuth found a good angle to consistently look through one window of Peridot's work station. The latter waltzed into work, having adapted fairly quickly to her new limbs and and being heavily drugged.

Peridot just walked to where her old terminal once was, paying no mind the the row of Peridots she had to pass by that were already hard at work. Her console was vacant, and had been ever since Yellow Diamond handpicked her for higher-level assignments. Just as she casually re-assumed her post, briefly fiddling with her tablet before settling down to her console, a familiar nasal voice barked out from behind her.

"Well, if it isn't 5XG." It was Yellow Pearl, who stood at the back row, which was the highest level. "And I see your record is surprisingly clean. Yellow Diamond finally knocked some sense into you. You have a lot of catching up to do, little one. Your console hasn't gotten its operating system updated in quite some time."

"Mm, I see that," Peridot remarked. "Looks like I'll need to reboot it for the updates to take." As she turned the power off her console, while tapping on her tablet reflexively, she turned to face Yellow Pearl. "In case you're wondering, this accessory contains my backed up data that I acquired from Earth. I had permanently lost my limb enhancers and everything stored in them. I had to get new ones on the way here, you see."

Yellow Pearl still rightfully regarded this Peridot with suspicion, but her explanations were sound. Except… "And what made you think you could come into work looking like that, 5XG? Do you think that little of your career?"

Well, she did. In so many ways Peridot had been seeing firsthand why she made the right call to stay on Earth. Homeworld felt more and more like a prison as time went on.

"I was severely assaulted while acquiring my new limb enhancers," Peridot exclaimed in a neutral tone. "Facet-2F5L Cut-9FC was the culprit; if you check your records, Yellow Pearl, you should find her termination listed up near the top of the current events. I had no time to tidy up between that and making it to work on time. Also, with her termination, are we not in need of a replacement for 9FC's console?"

Yellow Pearl let out a quiet grunt. She wanted an excuse to bust Peridot so badly, but her story checked out and she wasn't wrong about their terminal now in need of a new functioning Peridot. It was infuriating to see 5XG no longer on Homeworld's wanted list.

"You have a point, 5XG. I presume you'll lead the class as usual while I take care of this and you wait for your console to reboot?"

Something resembling a smile formed on Peridot's face. "It would be my pleasure, ma'am," she said with elegance, but with a hint of wicked glee. "I do owe you all that much for my extended absence."

Yellow Pearl did not leave the room, but rather busied herself with calling in for another Peridot from a Kindergarten. As long as she was still on her console, that's all that Peridot cared about.

Another moment later while Peridot diligently typed on her tablet while she addressed her fellow gems. "All right. I would like to have everyone's attention," she spoke up to her coworkers, who gradually pulled their heads up from their monitors to acknowledge her.

"Yes, hello there." Peridot offered a bit of a wave. "I've been tasked to assign you all an alteration to your console's command codes. The Era 1s in I.T. want us to be the beta testers, and the idea of this came from none other than Yellow Diamond herself. I have already tested this code out for myself, and it has enabled me to double the output of my work instantaneously. Consequently, I have been granted honors from my Diamond, and I wish to share that with you."

This sweet talk easily won the other Peridots over; Yellow Pearl was too busy drafting a new Peridot to really acknowledge her words. Little did she know, the 5XG edition she loathed so much had been hacking into her own console the whole time since her arrival into the work station using her trusty tablet. Her own console was under the guise of rebooting, but Peridot had in fact shut off the power entirely for it. It only affected her console, so no one cared enough to take notice to such an insignificant detail. Very discreetly, Peridot unplugged her console before commencing her coup de grâce.

"Input this console command as I speak it: **/ Override / System / Root / Core, Return, 0 / 0, Page Up.** "

As Peridot spoke these words loud and clear, she input the same commands on the distracted Pearl's console simultaneously. Once every single Peridot in the room hit Page Up, what appeared on their computer screens horrified them.

"You will become the pioneers of Homeworld." Peridot was smug as a snake. With the painkillers completely dulling her pain and even encouraging the gem to build up adrenaline, the cunning Peridot had quickly rebuilt her ego and drive to complete her mission, no matter the cost.

"The first gems to ever **divide by zero**. Congratulations."

As Peridot moved to an isolated corner, every console in the room save for her own went ballistic. All screens shifted to static, words became jagged glitches, and being so close to these consoles that were about to blow, every single Peridot seated were given a very dangerous jolt of electricity, binding them in place so they couldn't escape. And yes, the very same happened to Yellow Pearl, which Peridot especially loved to see. She didn't bother trying to figure out why tormenting so many of her own kind and her manager brought her so much… joy and satisfaction. Lights in the room flickered wildly as a chain reaction made almost the entire room a death trap.

Lapis and Bismuth peeked in through the blinds, but jumped back when they saw powerful electric currents fill the room, creating quite the light show. They had to duck once the intensity caused every window to shatter into pieces, but thankfully this vicious display finally started to die down. But the destruction left in its wake… had yielded effective results, but in a disturbing way.

In the work station, all but one console crumbled into scrap. Every single Peridot with the exception of 5XG had been poofed back into their natural gemstone state; most laid neatly on their demolished consoles. Yellow Diamond shared their fate, as her gemstone rolled to the floor. It was dark, though occasional sparks from snapped cables that lined the ceiling offered some soft flashes of light.

Lapis and Bismuth agreed it was finally time to head in. If that wasn't a signal, they didn't know what was. Shattered glass and crystals scattered across the floor, prompting the barefoot Lapis to use her water wings to hover above… though she knew this was an extremely risky thing to do given what just happened in this room.

She seriously considered investing in some footwear in the near future.

The site was a scene straight out of a sci-fi horror movie. The pair watched their fellow Crystal Gem climb up the steps; those limb enhancers and her demeanor made the leader quite unsettling. She acquired Yellow Pearl's gemstone and bubbled it. Peridot promptly turned around to see her friends on the floor, just gaping at her.

"Your turn to hold on to a thing of mine, Lapis. Catch."

Lapis was very put off by Peridot's tone, but she collected the green bubble as it was tossed to her without hesitation. She correctly assumed this was what Peridot had been after all this time.

"So… pretty cool trick, huh?"

Words spoken like a true sociopath… except that wasn't who Peridot was. But never before had she looked so sinister, so wicked and sadistic since she defected from Homeworld. Bismuth struggled to find the words to say about this. Peridot calmly slinked down the stairs, and just as she approached her undamaged console, some different lights on the ceiling flickered on, as well as some on the floor.

"Wh-what was that?! Did you just get caught?!" Lapis cried out.

Peridot scoffed at Lapis before plugging the power cord back into her console. "Did you two seriously not have backup generators in your time? My stars, ancient life must have _sucked_ …"

"Peridot," Bismuth finally found the words she wanted to say. "Did you get what you came in here for? That Pearl in the bubble over there?"

"Primary objective complete," Peridot confirmed. "If you can afford just a few more minutes, I'll be able to unlock every gate in this quadrant. And Yellow Pearl over there… her gem is like one of Earth's… I believe they're called skeleton keys? It will grant us clearance everywhere. Just keep a hold on that bubble, and Homeworld will bend to our will."

Neither of her teammates knew this until now. In hindsight, this stunt made a lot more sense, but they both had major problems with had Peridot executed her plan. And her current attitude was the most unsettling one yet.

"Well, go on and finish up; we're gonna have a little talk once we find another rest stop," Bismuth informed her.

"Yeah.. a _major_ talk," Lapis agreed. "We're glad you managed to make our journey easier, but the way you did it…"

"Are we really going into semantics right now?" Peridot sounded tired of the prospect of It already. "Believe me… you have no idea how _tempting_ it is to just… turn around and," She quickly did so, charging a ball of electricity with her artificial limbs before aiming at the helpless Peridot gemstones. "Finish the job!"

" **NO!"**

" _Peridot, DON'T!"_

The cries of her friends made Peridot visibly twitch. She held her fire. She looked to her friends, eyes momentarily looking genuinely lost and confused, silently crying for help, before her pupils shrank and her features hardened once more. "Oh, please. Like I was actually going to shatter them. They're not worth my attention, let alone my effort." Instead, she pointed her charged and ready weapon to her console. " _This_ , on the other hand… needs some closure."

Now Lapis was terrified and confused. "Peridot, you've probably caused enough racket to draw half of Homeworld's enforcers over here. We need to get moving… _you_ need to move on!"

"What's this tantrum gonna accomplish, anyway?" Bismuth challenged her leader. "Did you not go on a _major_ tangent on Day One, telling me and Lapis not to even _think_ about getting revenge? What exactly do you think this is, Peridot?!"

The blast was shot in the direction of Lapis and Bismuth.

Only… not. It was purposefully undershot, so all Peridot did was fry the floor between them.

" **GET OUT** if you have a problem, then!" Peridot snarled. "I need this. I _know_ I need this! Let it be known, _that was a warning shot!_ "

"Bismuth… I don't think we can reason with her like this," Lapis muttered nervously. "I-I hate this just as much as you, but… given what's happened already…"

Bismuth reluctantly nodded. "Best to let the kid tire herself out," she whispered. "We can help her out then. For now… maybe we'd better give her some space."

Lapis nodded in agreement. "In hindsight, I'm kinda glad she forced us to work things out before we got here. That might be the only reason why this team hasn't fallen apart yet."

They quietly gave Peridot some space, who now devoted all of her attention to her console; the last one standing.

Peridot couldn't process coherent sentences in her mind at this point. Instead of charging her weapon again, she used her extended arms to crush the console piece-by-piece, as if she wanted to grant it a slow and painful death. She did It over, and over, an over again, choking out a sob each time. All of this was pure anger and hatred; she never held so much of it in herself before in her life. Peridot could barely comprehend what was going on with her, but her logic shined through and told her one thing: if she didn't let this out now, it was very likely going to be a sentient being who receives her wrath. That would be unforgivable. Irredeemable. Steven would hate her.

She took out his picture and wailed. "Steven, I'm so close! SO CLOSE! But I feel like I'm gonna blow up! _Don't let me blow up, Steven!_ "

She hated this station and everyone in it. Friends didn't exist in this world; only competition. It disgusted her thinking about all the days she wasted behind the console she was driving into dust.

It disgusted her more that she needed the limb enhancers to even accomplish this. Her own natural strength wasn't enough… it was barely anything at all. But the longer she stayed plugged into these implants, the more Peridot just wanted to cry and go home.

She literally crushed and pounded her console into dust. When Bismuth and Lapis finally came back once they heard the noise die down, all they found was a shivering Peridot laying in a fetal position, silently crying while feebly trying to jerk the limb enhancers off herself. They were both sickened by what they saw once Peridot was finally free and back to her tiny natural self.

Deep tears, dark bruises, and even a point on her left forearm that looked bruised and cracked. Both of her arms looked mangled beyond repair. Peridot's outfit concealed what damage was done to her left leg, but after seeing both arms, it was safe to assume that was mangled as well.

"Stars almighty… I can't believe I'm seein' this." Bismuth was in disbelief. Peridot had accomplished her plan with ease despite her severe limb injuries and overall trauma. She didn't show a trace of the latter; just the face of a would-be killer. "She really can't go on like this anymore. But we don't have medical supplies on the PeriLuck… I knew we were forgetting something important."

Lapis, meanwhile, quietly brought out some water from her pouch and manipulated it to absorb the limb enhancers within a decently sized water bubble hovering in the air.

"Lettin' out some anger of your own, Lapis?" asked a very saddened Bismuth.

Lapis gave her a quick nod before swirling the water around the submerged extensions, going faster and faster until Lapis forcefully willed it to become a bubble of ice. Not just any kind of ice - she manipulated its temperature down to absolute zero. With a passive growl, she hurled the ice bubble against a wall further away and nodded with satisfaction when she watched the frozen limbs shatter into nothingness just like the ice.

"They won't be hurting Dot anymore," Lapis hatefully assured her companion. The hatred faded back into sullen hopelessness as she looked at Peridot cradled into Bismuth's arms.

Bismuth stood up and nodded to Lapis. "Let's get out of here. I don't know where, just… somewhere that ain't here."

"We have a lot more options now, at least," Lapis said as she pulled out the bubbled Yellow Pearl. "Of course, we still don't know this place any better than we did when we first got here. Our only navigator is out of commission…"

"You know what I feel? Screw it. Let's take a page out of the boss' book and just… _take a chance._ "

* * *

Yellow Pearl's gemstone turned out to be incredibly useful. Not only could it open any door, but it could lock them as well. So even if the Crystal Gems picked the wrong corridor to wander about in, they had some insurance. The problem was, it was still a matter of wandering about blindly and hoping for the best.

Good fortune finally struck when they discovered a series of transport tubes; much bigger and sturdier than the one they set up as an escape route outside. It looked like they reached the heart of Homeworld's metropolis; now they could get to where they needed to go if they knew which tube to pick.

Unfortunately, Peridot had been unconscious the entire time, still curled up in Bismuth's arms. Much of the aimless wandering gave Lapis and Bismuth a chance to really get to know each other, which was valued by both. But with each passing second, they worried if they were too late for Steven after all. There had been no sign of Lion anywhere to give them hints.

"Let's take a quick break, shall we?" Bismuth suggested, sitting down on a bench to rest her feet, as well as her arms.

"Might as well," Lapis agreed. "We made it this far, and choosing the wrong tube could send us all the way back to where we started for all we know." She looked down to Peridot, who started wincing in her sleep. "And it looks like the painkillers are wearing off… this isn't good."

"Yeah, this is manageable when she's sedated," Bismuth stated. "After all this walkin' I don't think I can carry her _and_ hear her suffer."

Lapis paced around, no longer hiding how frustrated she was. "Of all the times to _not_ have Steven, it had to be now… we _have_ to be making some progress, here! We're so close, but we don't know where we'll be fast-tracked to… maybe Steven isn't even where he was earlier now! We just-" Lapis froze. She had been pacing next to one of the largest transport tubes, and maybe it was a trick of the light, but she couldn't sworn she saw Lion right behind her reflected on the tube. She whirled around, but Lion was nowhere to be seen.

Bismuth caught on to the sudden turn. "Is somebody after us…?"

"N-no, I don't think to," Lapis murmured. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "We really could use Lion right now. Might just be a mirage for all I-" At the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a pink flash like a feline jumping through portals. She turned her head, but again, nothing. This time it was seen on the faint reflection of the windows that decorated this part of Homeworld.

"Bismuth… it's Lion."

"Lion?! You sure about that?"

Lapis kept a sharp eye on the area. "I'm sensing a theme… I'm seeing him show up on reflective surfaces."

Bismuth frowned, then nodded. "I suggest you find some better areas with that. Try checking on some of the darker spots, or maybe at corridor with the windows."

"Me? Alone?" Lapis didn't expect that.

"You ain't going far," Bismuth assured her. "As Vice Boss, you've got my blessing. If you do find Lion, get Steven _immediately._ You know where to warp back to."

Lapis smiled and looked up. "Yeah, at least they labeled this place very well…" It was called Core 1A, and all of the tubes featured in this quadrant had names of their own, spiraling out in all kinds of directions. She waved to Bismuth before dashing off to the corridor. It was extremely bright, but she was wise to pick it, as she saw a very clear silhouette of Lion on the wall opposite of the windows. Lapis cautiously made her way further down the corridor, looking in all directions, before she heard the sound of time and space being bent to an animal's will right behind her. Lapis whirled around and, to her delight, found Lion sitting right where she just walked past.

"Oh, thank goodness! You're here!" Lapis rushed over and gave Lion a modest hug. Lion nuzzled her face in return, eliciting a giggle from the aquatic gem before she pulled away. "Lion, will you please take me to Steven? This is about more than just finding him now… one our own is severely hurt. He's the only one who can help-"

She didn't need to say any more. Lion ushered the gem to mount him, and a second later, Lapis found herself warped into a completely new and very decadent, ornate room. This _had_ to be a Diamond room.

" _Lapis Lazuli!"_

Lapis didn't have any more time to take in her surroundings; her eyes lit up seeing the source of two excited voices whom shouted her name with glee.

"Steven! Connie!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Peridot had finally woken up, though she had regretted doing so. For Bismuth's sake, the sake of not drawing unwanted attention, and the sake of what little dignity she still had, Peridot tried to not raise her voice above a soft whine.

"I was hoping so bad that was just a nightmare…"

Bismuth was about to pat the little gem on the back, but she thought better of it considering how sensitive her body was. She opted instead to just comb her fingers through her hair.

"We all wished that," Bismuth sympathized. "And regardless of how you pulled it off, Peridot… you did it, and all by yourself. Almost immediately right after what… happened before." She really didn't want to go into the details. "Your willpower is unreal, kid. I can't remember when I last saw a gem with your kind of determination."

"Their determination wasn't Steven."

That made the larger gem blink with surprise before she settled with a knowing smile. "That's some devotion, Peri. It's no secret he's your soft spot, but you turned that vulnerability into a power source. I respect that."

Peridot couldn't avoid blushing, so she opted to keep her eyes down on the floor, which her tiny legs couldn't even reach. "It's… more complicated than I'd care to admit. And I already told Lapis… I said I don't know how to identify it, and right now I don't care because until he's rescued, and _all_ of us are back on Earth, it's not gonna matter either way. To be honest I… I don't _want_ to put a label on it at all."

"Afraid everything will change and never be the same once that happens, right?" Bismuth knowingly asked, and Peridot nodded. "That's normal, and nothing to be ashamed of. It's never a bad idea to just take your time with these kinds of things. You're young - I assume - you've got so much time to develop and figure yourself out."

" _Guh_ … you all have a betting pool going on for my age until I just say it, don't you?" Peridot grumbled.

"We made it that obvious, huh?" Bismuth chuckled. "I put in my bet right after I met you. We kinda like the mystery, but we love gathering the clues just as much."

Peridot smirked. She couldn't overstate to herself how thankful she was to really have friends who could make her smile, even when she was in agonizing pain. "Not that you're ever gonna get it out of me, but I say add another layer of challenge. Use The Cost is Correct rules so-"

She was abruptly cut off by the sound of a portal opening up and Lion running over, only to stop right by Bismuth and Peridot.

"Special delivery!" Lapis announced, sounding the happiest she had been in ages. As well she should be: their goal, Steven Universe, was right behind her on Lion. And a bonus, Connie Maheswaran was also along for the ride right behind Steven.

"LAPIS! You did it!" Bismuth was stunned with disbelief. "Oh, bless us all… Steven, you're okay! And Connie, too!"

" _We_ did it," Lapis corrected, patting Lion on the head. "The Crystal Gems all had a hand in this."

"You guys have no idea how glad I am to see you!" Steven cheered. "Bismuth, I'm so relieved you and Dad got my message! How'd you make it all the way here from Earth, anyhow?"

Connie smiled tiredly. "After everything that happened, it's _such_ a relief to see some friends. I admit I'm interested to find out how our experiences stack up. It sounds like we've all had a lot of-" She just then noticed the state their so-far silent friend was in. "Oh my gosh, Peridot! What happened to you?"

"Oh, Peridot… sorry I forgot to say hi," Steven apologized with a wave, but stopped short when he saw just how bad off she really was. "Usually you're the first one who greets me, but I understand why-"

" _ **STEVEN!"**_

In what appeared to be the cut off everyone mid-sentence hour, Peridot went from frozen stiff with glassy eyes, barely able to sit on the bench upright, to flat-out jumping off the bench like a cat to pounce Steven with such force that he was easily knocked off from Lion, hugging him with as much strength as she could muster given her condition. Which was surprisingly a lot at first, but it died down quick as Peridot sobbed against his chest.

"Y-you, you stupid, idiotic, foolish, dumb, moronic, dense, naive, delusional, biggest _mega-clod of all-time!_ " That was the most she could get out before crying on him again. She punctuated every insult with the weakest punch she had ever thrown on his shoulder, but Steven just smiled and seemed to understand.

"I've been getting that a lot lately," Steven laughed in reply. "But it's okay, see? I'm okay, you're- uh…"

Lapis noticed with the Lion warping right out in the open in a concourse added with Peridot's cries drawing attention to this bizarre group that stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowd that they should consider relocating.

"Everyone, we're starting to get _looks_. Last thing we need is for you kids to be locked up again," Lapis spoke up. "We should find a more secluded place."

"I hear that," Bismuth agreed and stood up. "Steven, she's banged up _bad_. And if you're gonna be healin', I think you two should take Lion and do that somewhere a little more private. As long as Lion's with you, there should be no problem with you returning back to us as soon as you're ready."

"Yeah, that sounds like a safe bet," Steven nodded and agreed. "I can do without any more Pink Diamond sightings for one lifetime. C'mon, Peri. I don't think I've had to use my healing on you yet. I think you'll like it!"

Peridot quieted down her crying after she overheard Lapis bringing up the unwanted attention, but she was still in too much shock to do anything other than sniffle and try to form words, but fail. She let Steven hoist her on top of Lion before coming up behind her. With both holding on tight, Lion portal-leaped out of sight.

"Are you sure I shouldn't have gone with them?" Connie asked. "I wouldn't want to attract unwanted attention, either. It's sort of my fault that Steven ended up in trouble to begin with…"

Bismuth shook her head. "Better not. Peridot's in a very fragile condition right now, and I don't wanna think how much it'll take out of Steven to heal her. 'Cause it's more than what you saw on her arms, Connie. This is something that'll take Peri a long time to get past… and we need her ready now. We still have friends that need finding."

"As long as Lion follows us the way he has been for a while - in the shadows, that is - it should be fine with just the three of us walking around," Lapis told Connie. "We've been traveling as a trio until we found you and Steven, and early on Peridot told us how much harder it's gonna be for us to get off this planet when all of the gang is back together. That's just something we'll have to prepare for when we find Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst."

"Besides that, Connie, understand that the three of us came into this totally blind," Bismuth pointed out. "All we knew before setting foot here was that Steven was in Homeworld and in trouble. That's literally it."

"I see…" Connie understood the implication now. She looked up to Bismuth and Lapis, giving both a serious, understanding nod. "Amazing that you guys found us based on so little information, but I take it that means I'm the only one who can fill you in on the details while Steven's on healing duty."

"We'd greatly appreciate that, Connie," Lapis said as she bowed to the girl. "I think we can give you some valuable information in return. But let's find a better place to talk, first."

* * *

"Huh, the Homeworld Kindergarten…" Steven eyed Lion, who no-sold the stare as usual. "Well, it is a big abandoned underground place with lots of hiding spots," he remembered. "Sounds like a private spot to me! Are you okay with it, Peridot? I know this is kinda… literally where you came from, but…"

Peridot grumbled as she took in a sharp breath. "Steven, I don't _care_ , just put me down somewhere! Preferably a spot where I'm not gonna get skewered by gravel!" She could finally drop that strong front she had put on since waking up. Or, really, since that incident in the limb enhancer shop. She seriously never wanted to see another set of those again after today's events. Now that the painkillers had fully worn off, Peridot felt nothing but searing pain in every limb besides her right leg. Her face ached from that punch; she didn't even realize it had been scarred yet.

Steven was quick to comply, hopping off of Lion before carefully picking up Peridot; he visibly winced every time he saw the state of her arms. "You won't have to worry about that, okay? You can use me as a cushion."

"Ah- are you sure you're okay with that…?" Peridot asked, trying to suppress her blushing. But in the state she was in, she couldn't suppress anything. The pain was just too overpowering. "I, I don't want to make it awkward for you…"

"I'm okay with it if you're okay with it," Steven said with a shrug. "Here, just sit down on my lap. I promise I don't bite." He plopped himself down on the ground, reaching his arms up to ease the battered gem into his lap, making sure she was as comfortable as she possibly could be, given the circumstances. "Let's take care of that little injury real quick." Before Peridot had the chance to ask what he meant by that, she felt a slimy thumb smear across her lower right cheek.

" _Gyak!_ S-Steven, what's the-" Peridot couldn't finish her sentence before she felt the throbbing pain in her face dissipate into nothing. Her scar healed completely - not that she'd notice - but there was such a calming, soothing after-effect that she no longer cared about the residual saliva on her cheek. "Oh… oh my stars, that's…"

"Remember that time you kidnapped me to fix that warp pad and I just kinda licked my hand and slathered it on there?" Steven sounded way too jovial talking about the time Peridot straight up threatened to kill him if he refused to send her home after abducting him fresh from his bed. Even though he still failed her (not for lack of trying, at least), Peridot didn't just off him then and there. It was still awkward for Peridot to think about too deeply, but she nodded to Steven's question.

"Yes. I recall it didn't do anything at all, Steven," she flatly replied.

"Aw, shoot. That's right, hah. I sorta lost by ability to heal for a little while… I mean, I have it back now!"

"I know, Steven," Peridot calmly told him. "I just felt it heal my face. Doesn't make it any less weird."

Steven let out an awkward laugh. "It'll be hard for me to give you anything less than weird, because I don't think I've ever healed anyone who's had this many injuries before! That's gonna be a lot of saliva… that I…"

Peridot grumbled. "Oh, I'll take a stab at this one. Just like everything else about you humans, your saliva is _finite_."

"I guess you could say that. I mean, if my mouth runs dry, it could regenerate in maybe a few hours, or the next day," Steven said casually, as if he tried to ease the gem's concerns by not making it sound like a big deal. "I mean, I'll try, but…"

"Oh, you will," Peridot told him with a deceptively wide smile on her face. "You're going to. Because right now, both of my arms and my left leg feel like they're _on fire_ right now, while being impaled multiple times by all kinds of sharp and dangerous tools! And then doused with your archaic Earth fossil fuels! And did I mention each limb _really_ wants to explode? I feel like I'm on the verge of dying, _ha ha ha_ , but **no big deal, RIGHT?** "

There was just a few seconds of silence before Steven stuck a finger in his mouth, trying to collect as much saliva as he could, and started to apply it to Peridot's right arm. "I-I'm so sorry, Peridot. You ended up like this because I called for help…"

Peridot wanted to smack this boy. For being so fond of him, Steven did have a penchant for driving her up a wall. But she physically couldn't, and given everything that had happened recently, she didn't really have the heart to inflict that much pain on him this time. "You stop that right now, Steven Universe. None of that. You don't get to play the "it's all my fault" game with me."

Steven pouted. "There's no way you brought this on yourself, Peridot. You're great and lovable."

It was hard to tell if Steven was just referencing that title Peridot liked to have, or if he sincerely meant it. Or maybe it was both.

"Yeah, well… that's back when I thought I knew all there was to know about myself," Peridot muttered. "Remember when we were drilling down to stop the Cluster, I think it was…. when we passed through a layer of peridotite, you asked me what kind of memories I had from this Kindergarten here, or my early days in general?"

Steven smiled. It helped him a lot to get a good conversation going to make him take just a small amount of worry away from what he should do once he runs out of saliva. "That's one of my favorite days to remember!" That drew a blush out of Peridot, of course. "You said you didn't have memories, just feelings. Nothing really specific."

"Well, guess what. While I was on my merry way to save your life earlier today, I learned how I can turn my feelings _into_ memories. I never did it voluntarily; it just… happened once I returned to certain places or… met certain figures from my past that had… way more of an impact than I originally thought."

"That's so cool, Peridot!" Steven's eyes glowed with anticipation. She could tell he was dying to hear one. "I can't imagine how that must've felt!"

"I can tell you right now how it feels," Peridot shot back grimly. "I hated it every single time. None of the memories I gained were good ones. All they did was show me just how _pure evil_ I was. That's why I ended up like this, you know."

"B-but you're _not_ pure evil at all, Peridot! And why would anyone do this to you?!"

"That's why I used past-tense, Steven," she pointed out. "I _know_ I'm not horrible right now. But back in the day, _well_ before I was even assigned to Earth… stars, I was the _worst_. The worst thing is, the Peridot who ended up doing this to me… she did it because I treated her so horribly back when we were colleagues. She used to be more like how I am now. When I crossed paths with her today, I fell into her trap and she started to torture me, trying to get me to break. She could have shattered me easily, but that wasn't good enough for her. She wanted me to scream. Scream so loudly, I'd draw the attention of authority figures who would misconstrue my cries to be ones of general weakness and lack of durability; unacceptable traits for a Peridot to have, and a crime punishable by shattering." Peridot saw the look in Steven's face and immediately felt awful. She would end up making him cry, she knew it… but he did ask for this, and since Steven was the one healing these wounds, he had a right to know how he got them. "So I willed myself to stay quiet."

"What's her name?" Steven asked. Of course he would ask something like that.

"Her full name was Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-9FC. Lapis and Bismuth found out what was happening to me. But they couldn't risk blowing our cover, so they tried to seek out some Homeworld authority. To their credit, they stepped in and did their job. They saw a Peridot deliberately try to cripple another, probably one thing we can agree should be against the law. But…"

"They shattered her," Steven understood. "I know I have a weird take on how stuff like that should be handled. I probably shouldn't say anything else."

"There's nothing else to say about it, anyway," Peridot informed him. "But you wanted to know why you're having to use all your saliva up on me… there's your answer. I should've thought it through before telling you I found out more memories about myself, because none of them are pleasant conversational topics."

"Sometimes you have to talk about the stuff that's hard to talk about. Even when you really don't want to… you never know how it might change your life." Steven hoped that would console Peridot at least a little, but he wasn't sure whether or not it was working. "Phew. One arm's almost done…"

Peridot forgot to check on that. She looked to her right arm and was delighted to see most of it was back to its proper color and no longer swollen or throbbing in pain. Steven worked to cover any spots he missed before holding her completely healed hand in his.

"Wow, thanks… th-this is so gross, but kind of fascinating," Peridot shyly told him. "No wonder you're my center of gravity…"

Steven looked up at Peridot. "Huh?"

"Oh, nothing," Peridot hoped to the stars above she could gaslight him. She really needed to start watching what she said out loud. "Hey, you need to take a break? I can tell you how we all assembled to come up there and save you guys."

"Mm.. sure, why not? I like your stars, by the way."

"I probably could've made a little more of an effort… oh, um, right. So Bismuth and your dad got your SOS. Lapis reformed, then I did later. Before I reformed, it sounds like Bismuth and Lapis were bickering about what to do and how to save you. Bismuth didn't have a clue; Lapis didn't either, and even worse didn't wanna participate. She stuck around until I reformed, and I didn't know this at the time, but both of them had the nerve to "test" my resolve. My first question to all of them was why they weren't mobilizing or even _trying_ to brainstorm anything. Apparently they were lazy clods who wanted me to do all the work, what a surprise…" Steven chuckled at that, which made Peridot smile a bit.

"They tried to lead me into believing they were gonna storm Homeworld and take everybody down even though… y'know, we were the only gems left. So I went off on them big time for treating this like an ambush when it was supposed to be about rescuing you. Once I guilt-tripped them so hard to the point of _bawling_ by making them think how their reckless actions could lead to their demise, and even worse than their own shattering, think about how that would affect _you_ … I decisively won that battle and was unanimously voted as the new leader of the Crystal Gems. Since, y'know… we assumed Garnet and the others were incapacitated."

"Yeah," Steven sighed. "All three got poofed all because me and Connie accidentally fused at a party and they stood up for me. So until we rescue them, I guess you still are the leader of the Crystal Gems! It's cool that you finally got to be one, Peridot!"

Peridot rolled her eyes, trying not to smile like an idiot to match the perpetual blush on her face. "Haha, right. Be honest, do you see me as _any_ kind of leader?"

"Well, yeah, in some ways," Steven said, and he sounded honest. "I know Lapis doesn't like to get involved and she's got her reasons. Bismuth's been in her bubble until that day… and one other, kinda, but she's more about being good at fighting and getting friends hyped than make those really tough choices that leaders have to make. Neither of them know Homeworld well, but I bet you've been their navigator the whole way, haven't you?"

"Well yeah, by process of elimination. I'm the best choice overall for that particular role, since I'm the only gem who's lived there within this century," Peridot said this as if it should have been painfully obvious to him already. "Doesn't mean I'd be a good leader. I came really close to losing it at times."

"Don't most?" Steven countered. "It's a huge responsibility. Only reason I didn't get the impression that you're the leader now is because you're…"

"I somehow became the damsel in distress; a _Paulette_ ," Peridot said with disgust. "But oh yeah, I was feeling the responsibility, for sure. I think I actually took on too many fraking jobs for this operation." She looked to Steven and coincidentally, appeared to be distressed. "Outside of Crystal Gem Leader and Navigator, I was the overseer of operations for the ship we built to make it here. Bismuth never built a ship before, so I had to give her the specs of a ship I designed myself a long time ago. We used the parts from Blue and Yellow Diamond's ships to create it in the span of about… 2.5 Earth days, I think. I salvaged parts for the ship's interior and ended up making the ship on the inside while Bismuth did the outside."

Steven smiled. "Wow, that's amazing. Bismuth showed me her forge and how she made weapons and stuff. You got a blacksmith to build a space ship! I wish I could've seen it." He then smirked. "And you convinced her to give it a try even though she never did it before. Sounds like a good motivator and leader to me, Peri."

"The ship did hold up perfectly on the trip here," Peridot admitted as she humbly smiled. "And it only took a few hours to travel. Not bad for a rush job at all, I'll say that much. I even had Lapis participate; we can't handle the heat like Bismuth can, so it was necessary for Lapis to use her power to cool down all the parts so it wouldn't be just Bismuth doing _all_ of the work for something she had never done before."

"You got your whole team to work together on that?" Steven looked amazed. "Peridot, you're amazing!"

Of course Steven would shower her with praise. And normally Peridot basked in it; this time, all she could think about is trying to look nonchalant as she once again felt her cheeks flushed. Her entire face felt heated.

"Hah, tell me something I _don't_ know." Peridot figured being haughty would stand out to Steven over her face. She knew soon enough he'd get concerned and ask her if she was okay if she couldn't suppress this. What she kept forgetting was that she still had two limbs in throbbing, agonizing pain, and it already took a great deal of Peridot's willpower to not scream and cry out. She so very easily could be doing this instead of holding a conversation with her "center of gravity".

"You took up all those jobs while you were still on Earth," Steven recounted. "You're one heck of a multitasker…"

"Yeah, cool, but I knew that already too, Steven," Peridot replied with a smirk. "I had to plan two steps ahead for everything. Take Lapis, for example. We both know what she can do with water… but here on Homeworld, natural water reserves dried out thousands of years ago. What little water you ever see around here is inside the machinery throughout the facilities, so that would make Lapis completely helpless. My solution? Borrow some water from the ocean by your house."

"I never would have thought of that!" Steven looked starstruck with Peridot's feats… which didn't help her problem one bit.

"Calm down; there's more to this," Peridot urged. "We obviously couldn't take your Earth's ocean with us, so I told Lapis she needed to train herself. She's so used to fighting with all the water she'd ever need to fight with, but we could only bring a relatively small amount. So I made her train to learn how to use her water offensively in a different way. I didn't get to see much of it, but I made it clear to Lapis that with a finite amount of water at her disposal, she needed to learn techniques that were effective and used much smaller amounts of water. More importantly, she needed to make a habit to make the water she has reusable, because she can't afford to waste it. I guess a simpler way to phrase it is… have Lapis learn how to make her water operate like those boomerang things you told me about."

"Whoa, you were even a trainer," Steven was still in awe. "You had to do all that on Earth… how do you _do_ that, Peridot?"

"Uh, simple," Peridot said shyly. "I had a great motivator. A fantastic motivator…" She had pretty much given up on resisting her blushing now. Steven smiled, though the hints of uncertainty on his face told her he didn't catch on to her implication. "Someone I needed to save, no matter what."

"... you mean Amethyst?"

If she could, Peridot would have slammed her head against something repeatedly at this point. She squeezed his hand, which never left hers. "Someone I owe the entire life I have now to," she said in a firm, but hushed tone. "Everything who I am, everything _that_ I am. Someone who believed in me when no one else did, who taught me nearly everything I know for life on Earth. Someone who made me a better… not sure person is the right word… _nnnggh_ , someone who went out of their way to show everyone, including myself, that my past is not today." She paused, taking in a shaky breath as she struggled to maintain her composure. "And I'm still learning, still trying to be a better gem for it. I'll stagnate; I'll _implode_ without that person in my life." She frowned at Steven, but had tears welling up in her eyes. "Is that telling enough for you, Steven?!"

Steven looked stunned as he took in Peridot's words that came right from the heart. A silent moment passed, rendering Peridot very tense. Her moist hand nearly slid away from Steven's grasp, but at the last second, he grabbed it firmly, followed with a gentle squeeze.

"Uh… please don't freak out, but I figured out who you meant once you said it was someone who taught you about how to live on Earth," he admitted. In an effort to calm her, he gave the highly emotional gem a soft, reassuring smile. He wanted to take her other hand, but Steven winced when he saw the state of it and remembered he was supposed to be healing all of that _and_ a leg. Peridot fell against his chest and sniffled. She squeezed Steven's hand in return while she wracked her brain, trying to find the words to say now. Had she said enough already? Too much? With Steven, it always felt like not enough.

"A lot of people put their faith in me… and don't get me wrong; I appreciate it. But usually I feel it's a little more than I deserve." Steven looked towards the ground for a moment. "Especially after what's gone down since I came here." He looked back to Peridot and stroked her hair with his free hand. "But, I dunno… do you think it's weird that I don't feel that way when you said that just now? From anyone else, it would've been _way_ overboard. But because you're the one who said it, it's… it doesn't just feel like the usual praise, you know? I can tell you're speaking from the heart, Peridot."

"I'm sorry, Steven. I made this so awkward…" She wanted to sit up, but Peridot felt so pacified with the boy gently stroking her hair. "This is the worst time for me to be doing this to you, but you have no idea how much I owe you for keeping myself together this far along in the mission. I've been so stressed out, overwhelmed, whatever. I tried so hard to be a true leader, Steven. But I'm sure later on, when we all get through this and come back home, Lapis and Bismuth will back me up when I tell you… I've been so all over thee place. Unstable. And the only way I can will myself into being… _myself_ again is when I think of you."

Steven was definitely going to ask Lapis and Bismuth independently about Peridot; they'd know better than anyone else right now. He was touched beyond words hearing Peridot pour her heart out, but he wanted to know just exactly what she had to suffer through to get to him. After making her recount the incident with 9FC, he knew there was more to it that she wasn't telling him. But that was understandable. Still, he wanted to understand. If he couldn't get that from Peridot, his best bet was to get the perspective of her teammates.

"Peridot, really. It's okay," Steven assured her. "This is actually the best time to just… let it all out, you know? We're not going anywhere until you're completely healed; we need our leader healthy if we're gonna rescue Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst and make sure everyone gets home safe and sound. And I think we're gonna be here a while, 'cause I'm feeling the strain already with the saliva and I haven't even started on your other arm yet…"

Peridot winced upon being reminded that she had a near-destroyed left arm. It somehow got the worst of 9FC's brutality, but finally being reunited with Steven, especially like this, made her able to endure it much better.

"You're actually calling me your leader unironically," she realized out loud. "Steven, I-I can tolerate this pain so long as you don't move from this spot," she said in a near desperate tone. "I don't want to overwork you. It's just… _nrnngh_ , there has to be some way to work around that limitation! If only I could-" She stopped herself from talking immediately. "Never mind. Just hold me or something!"

Well, Steven wouldn't say no to adjusting the technician on his lap in a way that let them have more of a proper embrace, but the hybrid found it far too odd that Peridot would _not_ share one of her genius ideas. Her pathetic attempt to distract Steven with a hug also suggested she had an idea, but for whatever reason chose to withhold it. And from Peridot of all people, Steven didn't want to have secrets between them.

"C'mon, Dot. Out with it," Steven coaxed with his warm, friendly tone. "I like hearing your ideas."

"Oh, but it's really something you would consider _disgusting_ , Steven!" Peridot cursed herself for failing to lead Steven off the trail. Whatever good fortune she had earlier in the mission that made her a master of deceit had long since worn off. "Even I find it… unsettling."

Steven chuckled. "One thing you haven't learned yet about Earth boys, Peridot, is that we're usually fascinated with gross stuff. So c'mon, try me!"

Peridot groaned as she conceded defeat and finally rose up to meet Steven face-to-face. They were a lot closer together than she thought. She had no desire to complain, except for maybe the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. "R-remember you asked for this," she muttered in annoyance before regarding him with sincerity. "You said you only have so much saliva before your mouth runs dry. So I had a hypothesis. What if I…" Her cheeks felt tense and stung a little, as well they should, because their deep green coloration was a very dark contrast to her natural skin color. "If I… donated my own saliva, and mixed it in with yours… d-do you think that'd… _grrghkk_ … uh, extend the supply…?"

"Hm, I never thought about that… I mean , it makes sense to me," Steven surmised. "Guess I didn't have a reason to think about it before because I never had to heal anyone this injured before, but it should be an easy thing to prove or debunk. All we'd have to do is-" _Finally_ it dawned on Steven why Peridot didn't want to suggest this. Or, as Steven could tell, from Peridot's eyes that no longer met his… her sudden full-body shivering… the sweat poured down her blush-infested face, so much that it began to fog up her visor… how she reflexively bit her lower lip in an attempt to hide what she wanted to express… and finally, from the way her free hand grasped the split ends of her hair.

"Oh… that's why you didn't…" Steven struggled to not let that sentence die off; he knew it would just make Peridot think worse of herself for even bringing it up. "Peridot, c'mon. I'm not upset. If it means I'll be able to heal your arm and leg all in one go, I'd be happy to do it."

" _Do you have any idea what you're agreeing to, you clod?!"_

"... Yeah? I know I don't have experience with kissing and stuff," Steven admitted. "But I know what it is and what it's… uh, about. And after all the Camp Pining Hearts you've watched, I know you know at least that much too, Peridot."

Peridot didn't expect Steven to be so accommodating. Why wasn't he resisting? Why was he so… _okay_ with it? Why hasn't he brought someone else up given the context, namely Connie? She was going to have to make sure there was no misunderstanding of any kind going on here. After all, she wanted her first kiss to _mean something_ , definitely with a nicer setting than a desolate Kindergarten on her hellhole planet of origin.

Then she stopped her train of thought right there. She didn't remember putting that much thought into how she wanted that kind of first kiss with Steven; it just suddenly sprung up in her mind as if it had always been inside her, just hiding. She had so many strong feelings for Steven as a friend, a family member, and apparently a soulmate as well… Peridot knew this. She knew; that's why she didn't want to define her relationship with Steven. Not only could the change have a permanent adverse effect on their relationship, but Peridot feared she'd lose all the other facets of her and Steven's relationship if she had to pick only one to dominate. They all came together so well, all as a result of the amount of time Peridot had been in Steven's company. It was what Peridot loved most about living on Earth. To a lesser degree, she had multiple facets of her relationship with others in her life, but her life as a typical Homeworld Peridot? There was only ever one facet to Peridot's relationship with any of the gems she interacted with. And usually it came down to two flavors: competition, and respectable authority figure. The very notion that relationships beyond the two she grew up with seemed so ludicrous when she first came to Earth, but letting herself be open to those possibilities made Peridot feel born anew. It grew slowly at first, with the concept of "nemesis" being introduced to her when she first met Steven and the Crystal Gems. Ever since then, her curiosity and enthusiasm broke free from her repressed former self.

That was when Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG was reborn into Peridot.

Even though this actually was a bad time for either of them to go into this tricky subject matter, it was necessary if Peridot wanted any chance of healing her wounds before the Diamonds hunted them down.

"Steven, I…" Peridot winced, then shook off her hesitation. She hadn't finished her sworn mission yet. She couldn't keep delaying this because of her insecurities and uncertainties. "I just want to know. Are you okay with this because you know we need to at least try so we won't be stuck down here for the rest of the day, or… d-do you really think-"

"Do I think I might have feelings like that for you, and this is a good chance as any to figure that out for sure?" Steven cut her off. He was a little antsy himself, but at least what he said was close enough to what she was trying to spit out. "I wish I could give you a solid yeah or no. With everything going on right now, I haven't had time to really make up my mind on that. But yeah, the thought… has kinda crossed my mind before, that we'd make _some_ kind of couple. We spent so much time together anyway, y'know? But it seems right, that you'd be my first kiss. I taught you a lot since you came to Earth; now we're, uh… learning together, teaching each other."

Peridot nodded, but still looked so ashamed of herself for letting herself spill her heart out in this place of all places, at this time of all times… "Right, we can't make big decisions like that here and now; not with everything else going on. I figured there would be vastly superior competition, and maybe there is, but… there's no reason we can't do this for both reasons, is there?"

Steven shrugged and smiled. "I already decided I'd do it for both reasons, so… all we gotta do is, well. Do it."

Peridot closed her eyes; brows furrowed as she did her best to eliminate every trace of hesitation from her body. All apprehension, all fear. This was _Steven_ , after all. If anyone would still accept her if she happened to fail at kissing, it would be him. Her eyes opened and locked with Steven's. "On 3, then?"

Steven nodded. "Good idea. 1…"

"2…" Peridot was as ready as she'd ever be.

"3!"

They both leaned forward and their lips met for the first time. Like most first kisses, it was nothing glamorous, though for the pair, they immediately felt like they had ascended to a higher plane of existence. Peridot would have described it like riding a shooting star. Steven's version was more like riding a giant fluffy cloud.

They shared a round of innocent experimentation, getting acquainted with each other's lips and movements. Just a little under a minute in, the couple closed their eyes and let their instincts take it from there. Peridot and Steven at least knew ahead of time they would have to engage in some… much more advanced kissing techniques in order to be able to rule a verdict on Peridot's hypothesis. Even if it was proved wrong, Peridot had the consolation prize of finally being able to take that first step with Steven, and share a unique first experience.

Thankfully, Peridot's instincts, when left to their own devices, were just as tenacious as the sentient gem they belonged to. She was the one who needed to infiltrate Steven's mouth, so she took the initiative to poke her tongue against his lips for permission to invade his mouth. Steven let himself be the passive one here, letting Peridot explore his mouth and offered no resistance when she raised her healed arm to rest her hand against the side of Steven's head, and consequently jerked her partner's head forward, crashing their lips together and intensifying their kiss.

It was easy to get lost in the raw, newly-discovered passion, although Steven's limitations of his human half meant there was a definite time limit on how long they could make out before he needed to back out to breathe. He did indulge shamelessly until his body urgently demanded oxygen, which made him pull away from Peridot rather suddenly.

The shock of the separation and Steven pushing back sent a hazy-minded Peridot falling on her back. The impact made her squeal in pain, and just like that, Steven immediately regretted doing that because of his stupid human needs. "A-aw, aw geez, are you okay, Peridot?!" He leaned over to rest his hands over each shoulder an pulled her up so she was sitting uptight again. "I'm so sorry- I was just running out of air and I was getting light-headed…"

Peridot, with closed eyes, simply held up her right hand as if to tell him "say no more".

"You're not hurt, right? Well, I mean, no more than you are already…."

That elicited a snicker out of Peridot as she opened her eyes and smiled at Steven. "Well, let's see if there's any merit to my hypothesis. We might be on a fast track to getting rid of my pain after all… hopefully." She gulped. "Because I'm kind of fresh out of ideas besides this one."

"Go on and try!" Steven exclaimed, looking giddy. "Even if it doesn't work, I definitely don't regret giving it a shot!"

Peridot blushed as she poked her right index finger into her mouth, then quickly pulled it out, running the saliva-coated digit run down her left arm in a line, watching with anticipation.

Smiles quickly disappeared as there was no change within the amount of time Steven's pure saliva took to take effect.

"Should've figured that solution was too easy to be real," Peridot grumbled. It _seemed_ too logical to not work, though…

"Ah, well, it wasn't a total bust," Steven said, taking it in stride. "We got to share a new experience with each other today!"

Peridot smiled and laughed quietly at how easily Steven rebounded from that disappointment. "Yes, I suppose one experiment did go off with a rousing success. We'll just thank our lucky- _oh my stars!_ "

"What's happening?!"

A bright pink light emitted from the saliva trail on Peridot's arm, nearly blinding the pair before dying down. When Peridot opened her eyes, she immediately pulled up her left arm, which was surprisingly less painful and easier to do now. Steven opened his eyes and leaned over to get a closer look on what kind of phenomenon just occurred.

Not only was the thin line of her skin coated with saliva completely healed, a couple of inches' worth of the skin surrounding that specific line had also returned back to its natural lime green tone, albeit with a tint of pink aura and sparkles that eventually faded off.

" _Whoa_ … I've never seen it do that before," Steven whispered out; his tone indicated he was holding in a great deal of excitement and the urge to cheer out in celebration.

Peridot was speechless for a moment. Her eyes were glued to the results. "Ah… let it be known that my saliva has _never_ done that before. I think that just left us more questions instead of an answer…"

"Who cares?! It worked, way better than we could've imagined!" Steven exclaimed. He enthusiastically raised up a hand to Peridot, requesting a high five. "Score one for the power of _love!_ "

Of course, Peridot wouldn't leave him hanging. Just as soon as she finished that so-called "ritualistic human obligation", she narrowed her eyes at Steven and huffed at him. It must have been something he said.

"Do _not_ make me dump you before we even start dating."

* * *

It could not be overstated how much of a boon Yellow Pearl's gemstone was for the Crystal Gems.

Although Connie didn't know all the twists and turns of Homeworld like Peridot, she did have a better idea of where to head than Bismuth and Lapis by far. She wasn't that familiar with these common areas compared to the palaces, but by recognizing those iconic architectures in the distance, she at least knew which _direction_ to go. And the closer the trio got, the more visible Pink Diamond's ship and that White Diamond bust became, and they came off as very imposing for the gems of the team. But as long as they had the Homeworld equivalent of a skeleton key, Homeworld was indeed their oyster.

"I still can't believe Blue Diamond let you two go like that. I sort of buy Steven appealing to her better nature because… that's sort of how Peridot and I became members of the team. At the same time, I have a hard time believing Blue Diamond even _has_ a good nature to appeal to."

"It does sound surreal," Bismuth agreed with Lapis. "A nice Diamond sounds like the textbook example of a contradiction."

"I know; if I wasn't there to see it for myself, I'd be just as skeptical," Connie acknowledged. "I mean, if Steven wasn't able to prove he was Pink Diamond, she and Yellow would have completely annihilated every single one of us." She frowned. "For that reason alone, I'm still skeptical. At least for Yellow Diamond; Blue feels very passive and emotional, but mild, too. She at least listened to Steven in the tower. Plus she fed us and gave Steven his old clothes back."

Lapis huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of her face. "Well, they're good deeds. I won't dispute that. What I will say is, this sounds like a textbook example of _Nepotism_."

"Ooh, good touch there, Lap!" Bismuth and Lapis traded high fives; Lapis doing so casually that she didn't even have to look at Bismuth to do it. "That's what Homeworld boils down to, huh. Textbook examples of everything that corrupts the world we live in."

Connie offered a weak smile back. "That _was_ a good one, Lapis. Anyway, I'm really thankful you got us a key that opens anything around here." She was now the one in charge of holding the green bubble containing Yellow Pearl's gemstone. "I never would have guessed the Pearls owned by the Diamonds could function like this, but I guess it does make some sense. They're around the Diamonds almost all the time; you'd almost never get an opportunity to poof them."

"Hey now, the honor all goes to Peridot for that one," Bismuth corrected. "All Lapis and I did was watch how she pulled it off."

"I caught Yellow Pearl when Peridot threw the bubble my way," Lapis dryly said. "But yeah, that's 100% her accomplishment. And she pulled that off with three busted limbs, limb enhancers that were put on too tight, and under the influence of a _major_ dose of sedatives. She really earned that leader cred."

Connie smiled, both out of joy and disbelief. "Whoa, wait. Lapis, are you serious?"

Lapis looked to Connie and smirked. "She may have sucked as Garnet of the Crystal Temps, but when she's herself, and the stakes are high, you wouldn't believe the crap that brat is capable of."

"I can't wait to hear all about it when we get home!" Connie exclaimed. "Oh, I can't wait for her to rejoin us. It's a real Crystal Temps reunion!"

"Sure, Connie, we'll tell you all about our exploits here in Homeworld. In exchange, you three better give me the story of the "Crystal Temps"," Bismuth requested. "We'll have a nice bonfire at the beach and trade stories around."

"Huh, it'll be a real Crystal Temps reunion when we get back to the ship," Lapis realized. "Forgot Pumpkin's guarding the ship with Steven's dad."

That elicited more worry than surprise out of Connie. "They're both here on Homeworld?! Why?!"

"Like I said… they're guarding our ticket out of here," Lapis reiterated.

"Connie, don't you worry about a thing," Bismuth assured the girl, consoling her. "They're in the safest possible spot and Peri made sure Greg's well-armed on the off-chance some unwanted company does try to get in the ship. I bet you thought we'd be escaping the same way you came in, didn't ya?"

"Y-yeah, that thing sticks out in my memory so much, I forgot you two came in from a completely different ship," Connie admitted. "I guess it's a lot less conspicuous, at least."

Connie unlocked another passageway with Yellow Pearl, which led the three outdoors for the first time since arriving on Homeworld. It was a lengthy veranda that had a few paths that branched off in various directions.

"Perfect!" Connie exclaimed as she felt the wind pass through her hair. "This must be the roof level. We can go straight to the Diamond Palaces from here!" They were definitely within view, and much closer by than ever before. One of the branched paths from the veranda seemed to stem out towards that general area, so the trio for once got to pick a route and not have to hope for the best.

Bismuth let out a sigh of relief and hung her head. "Thank the _stars_. We've been trapped in that labyrinth all day. Nice to get a breath of fresh air at last."

"Finally; all this walking is killing my feet!" Lapis was quick to let out her water wings and ascend into the open air. She kept Peridot's words in mind and refrained from doing any wild air stunts, but it felt heavenly to have the fresh air _and_ the open space to spread her wings.

Connie couldn't help but be happy for them. "I'm glad you're finally getting some relief. I wasn't too wild about walking those crowded halls either, and I only joined you guys, what, an hour ago?"

"Don't forget completely clueless as to what was going on with you guys," Lapis said from the air. "We hated having to assume the worst."

"I'm so glad Steven was able to reach you," Connie said sincerely. "I don't think we could've made it this far on our own. We're so close to rescuing everybody."

Bismuth happened to notice just how far up they really were. "Phew. Better not make a habit of lookin' down unless you're Lapis. We climbed up a lot more stories than I thought."

"I'll stick close by," Lapis assured her teammates. "I'm just gonna do a little, hm… what was that word Dot used again? Recon?"

"Oh, you mean reconnaissance! That actually is a really good idea." Connie felt more and more optimistic the closer they approached the palaces. The path was fairly straightforward, and no apparent obstacles loomed ahead, but that was no reason not to make that a 100% certainty if possible. "Let us know what you see ahead."

* * *

"Yeah, so Yellow Diamond just left her palace looking _pissed_ , and Blue Diamond looked like she was inviting her over to where Connie said she and Steven were kept before I came to the rescue with Lion."

"Now _that_ is some top-notch recon," Connie said, giving her a thumbs-up. "Thanks for the report, Lapis!"

"So there's a Diamond-sized opening for us now! We can run in, free our friends, and get out before she even knows what's goin' on!" Bismuth was very pleased to hear this.

"Actually, there's a couple of Topazes at the front, and a door that might be locked…"

To that, Bismuth grinned wickedly and brandished her hammer arm. " **Even better.** I was anticipatin' to knocks some heads the second I got here! This is what I call "best for Bismuth"!"

Connie also had quite the menacing grin as she held up the green bubble. "Think Yellow Diamond might be looking for this?"

Lapis reflected the eager grins of her teammates. "You'd think she put up a Missing Gem sign all over the planet if she _really_ was. We're making better use out of that, anyway."

Bismuth decided to put her field commander skills to use. "Alrighty, friends. I'm takin' the Topaz on the left. Lap, you get Righty."

Lapis lowered down close to ground level and held her hand out to Connie. "Hey, keep that key safe. I've only gotten to use my power on a bunch of robot junk so far, so I might get a little over-excited. I've been dying to try out these knew techniques Peridot made me learn."

Connie blinked. "Wow, I didn't think Peridot was much of a fighter…"

"Oh, she's not," Lapis assured. "She just inspired me to make more with less. You'll see in a second."

A second later and two poofs, a pair of Topazes fell to the floor after Bismuth went the direct approach and walloped it while Lapis took her opponent out with streams of water had the appearance of a spring-loaded hookshot and acted similarly, with the "hook" part actually made out of ice. Following her former roommate's expedient advice, she kept her hold on most of the water used for this attack so it could reverse-flow back into the pouch where it came from. Then she saw an opportunity to try another new thing and couldn't help herself.

"Ooh, I wanna try this," Lapis insisted, kneeling down to the Topazes. She picked them up and smirked as she successfully contained both gemstones in individual blue bubbles.

"Good thinking," Bismuth commended. "It'd be a bad move to let those guys come back on their own."

"Sure would suck. So, for my next trick…" Lapis tapped the top of both bubbles, which then promptly vanished. Both Bismuth and Connie couldn't help look at their teammate inquisitively. "What? Everyone knows you don't leave clues at the scene of a crime."

"So… where did you send them?" Connie asked.

"Who cares? But this is a good time to bring up the fact that it's probably a bad idea to do the same to our key," Lapis advised. "Go ahead and do the honors."

"Right!" Connie rushed to the front door and presented Yellow Pearl, and like all other obstacles, they ceased to be as the doors opened wide to reveal an empty throne room.

The trio examined their surroundings, trying to find anything that resembled bubbled gems. Connie and Bismuth came up with nothing on the ground floor. Then again, given the giant size of the throne, there was a good chance it would take a while to find the four gems of their captured friends.

"Found them!"

Or the airborne Lapis cheated the system yet again, as the throne was literally the first thing she inspected from an aerial view, and sure enough a large bubble containing all four gems inside was seen.

Bismuth just shook her head in disbelief and looked to Connie. "Can you believe she didn't want to come on this mission at all?"

"Our lives would definitely be way harder without her," Connie said with a laugh. "This is great, though! That's all our mission objectives complete! We can finally go home, to Earth!"

"I guess we should try waiting for Steven and Peridot to catch up," Lapis dully figured as she landed on the floor, holding the large bubble. "Maybe somewhere other than the tyrant's lair, though."

"Good idea," Connie muttered. "Uh, so, since all that's left for us to do is head for your ship, do you think maybe I should leave the key here? We don't to use her anymore, right?" She gestured to the green bubble in her hand.

"Don't you dare! You've got _no_ idea what I had to go through to secure that clod!"

The trio looked towards the still-opened front door, where Lion came dashing in with Peridot and Steven in tow. Peridot was quick to leap off Lion and land mere feet away from the others,and just _barely_ avoided slipping on the floor. "Like I was saying, _Connie_ , we are keeping our key as long as we possibly can. We don't know for sure how easy it will be to go back the way we came, and-" she paused and saw the bubble held by Lapis. "Wait, wait. You already rescued the others?!"

Lapis smirked. "Sorry, boss. You literally just missed us pull off this daring rescue."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Steven looked beyond relieved as he ran over to join the others. "They're okay! I mean, as okay as being in a bubble can be. So we can go home now, right?!"

"Steven, check. Connie, check. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, triple check! That's everyone we came back to this clod-forsaken rock for!" Peridot cheerfully confirmed. "Yeah, we're definitely not tossing the key yet. Our final objective is to make it back to our ship, leave, and hopefully never have to see this sorry excuse for a planet again. We don't know how much backtracking we'll have to do and it's practically guaranteed we're not going back the same way we came. That means it's highly likely we'll need some places unlocked. We should probably get to a location _not_ so potential death trap-y so we can wake our fellow Crystal Gems. After all, I wanna see the looks on their faces when they realize who they've been saved by!"

"I guess it would be a stretch to suggest we all fit on Lion," Connie muttered. "He'd be the quick and convenient way to someplace safer."

"We shouldn't take Lion if we can help it," Steven advised. "He does get exhausted after a while if we portal-hop with him too much."

Lapis looked to Steven before using her wings to ascend slightly. She kept ahold of the bubble containing the remaining Crystal Gems. "What constitutes as "too much"? He's done it maybe… 4 times at most since we got here."

"That's when we should start being conservative with him. Besides, Lion isn't always the most consistent when it comes to help." Steven smiled as he looked to Lion, who was some ways ahead of them, prepared to go off on his own again. "No offense, buddy!"

"I distinctly recall him getting exhausted after a single warp to the Moon," Peridot noted. "It may be a matter of distance relative from point to point. In which case, I'd say it's highly likely Lion is on the verge of exhaustion, if he isn't already. Homeworld Kindergarten isn't exactly next door to the Diamond Palaces."

"That's where you ended up going to heal, of all places?" Bismuth was perplexed, as were the others.

"Well, you said we needed a safe and private place to deal Peridot, Bismuth," Steven reminded her. "And what here on Homeworld fits better than a faraway underground defunct Kindergarten?"

"I guess that makes sense," Lapis conceded. "I certainly wouldn't have thought to look for you there."

"Fair enough," Bismuth agreed. "So, did you two see anyone on your way in here? We just saw the Diamonds go inside where Lapis found you and Connie.

"Nope, no Diamonds. Just that weird Pearl nearby my mom's ship," Steven reported. "I was about to say hi, but Peridot pinched me really hard and said to ignore her."

"Weird Pearl? Was it not Blue Diamond's?" asked Connie. "Because we've got Yellow Pearl bubbled with us.

"Definitely not. In fact, she looked partially cracked," Peridot told them. "And my instinct is just telling me not go anywhere near her. I'm not taking that feeling for granted on a world like this, sorry. I did _not_ come all the way back here and nearly get crippled just to fail the mission at the end because of a single logistical error."

"Sounds creepy just by the description," Bismuth admitted. "There's no reason to go near the ship, anyway. We're going home in the ship we took to get here, Steven."

"Ahh, that's right!" Steven realized. "You and Peridot and Lapis didn't have access to Mom's ship. But I'm guessing you hid it someplace pretty far from here, huh?"

"Unfortunately," Peridot said with a sigh as she got her bearings. "Tempting as it is to hijack that really weird ship, we'd risk abandoning two very important teammates who currently guard the ship we came here on." She sharply turned to the others. "And keep it a surprise, will you? The last thing I want getting us all captured is an overexcited Steven blowing our cover."

That bummed Steven out, knowing he had to be left out of the loop. "Oh, c'mon. I'm standing right here…"

"They told me," Connie mentioned. "Before we reconvened, but that's fine. I won't spoil it." She approached Peridot just then to give her a long-overdue hug. "And I owe _you_ this, now that it won't hurt you. I'm so glad to see you again… it's so cool to see the Crystal Temps reunited! And Lapis made sure to tell me just how far you've come as a leader since then."

Peridot briefly looked to Lapis, who just smiled and gave her a thumbs-up before reciprocating Connie's hug. "I'm happy to see you too… and I apologize for not acknowledging your presence earlier. My physical limitations are such a hindrance, especially when I take damage. But, that's all gone now!" She looked across her team excitedly. It still felt like a dream even now, that Peridot was the one leading them to victory. And it was so close within reach.

"Now that all the loose ends are tied up, let's head back," Peridot announced. "It seems you three covered a lot of distance since we split, and at this stage we need to be as far away from the Diamonds as possible. So can at least one of you lead the way back to the concourse? We'll stand a better chance finding a safe place to restore our friends down there."

"I'll take the case," Lapis volunteered. "I'll stay in sight, but I want to make sure there's no one in our path just to be safe."

"Ah, I did promise I'd let you do reconnaissance," Peridot recalled. "Right, then. Steady pace, Crystal Gems! It's been nice having some room to move around and fresh air to breathe, but we really should take any chance we can at staying out of the Diamonds' line of sight. And this level is sadly that line."

"We'll find some other way to cure the gem corruption on Earth," said a resolute Steven. "Without White Diamond. If this is what she thinks is right, then I want no part in it. Blue Diamond told me and Connie how bad they treated Mom… at least we could reason with one of them."

"Just remember, Steven, Blue Diamond is no angel," Lapis told him before ascending too high. "Maybe if we're grading on a curve with the others, but that's really generous. I'll just settle for not cursing her name since she helped you and Connie as much as she did."

Everyone dashed across the bridge towards the veranda of the concourse, following Lapis' trail.

"White Diamond… her name's been thrown around a few times since I came back," Bismuth said, mostly to herself. "I know there was a big part of the war I wasn't around for that nobody could really make sense of. Rose might've done me a favor bubbling me, for all I know. I just can't help but feel… a Diamond-like presence hanging over us, and it ain't Yellow or Blue."

"I know I've been your glorified tour guide for this trip, but I barely know anything about White Diamond either," Peridot uneasily admitted. "But when I saw that cracked Pearl… I'm sorry for being a little rough back there, Steven. But I feel like I'm on the verge of another "feeling" become a memory, and it's one that's… just telling me, _really hard_ , to get as far away from the Diamonds as possible."

"I know you're just protecting me," Steven assured her. "Besides, you're probably right. Blue made it sound like she was basically our mom… or, y'know, Pink's mom."

Connie looked back to that ominous White Bust less than a mile behind them as she ran along with the others. "Yeah, it sounds like White took everything way too seriously. When Blue thought about all the times Pink was locked in the tower by White, that's when she started coming around."

"That suggests the Diamond Authority operates like an extremely dysfunctional family," Peridot surmised. "And not the endearing kind of dysfunctional that our own family goes through at times. I worshiped the ground Yellow Diamond walked on, and I knew the basics about Blue. It makes sense that I never learned about Pink since I didn't know anything about that war or the rebellion while I lived here, but White Diamond…" She also glanced back to the ominous bust that grew ever-smaller behind them as they furthered their distance. "She's been here on Homeworld all this time, I've seen that thing back there that represents her lots of times, but there's not much in the way of hearsay or gossip about her. But sometimes I've seen gems be interviewed that just freeze up and don't say a word if they're asked anything about White Diamond. As if even mentioning her name in the public is a major taboo…"

"Almost like she's the one really running the show here on Homeworld, while Yellow and Blue act as her proxies," Bismuth suggested. "But if other gems are scared to just speak her name, there's gotta be a reason for it."

"Yellow and Blue went out of their way to make her happy," Steven said. "That's why they got so upset when me and Connie fused; why we got locked in the tower just like Pink Diamond and why my family is in a bubble now. White really didn't like that, apparently."

"So it's her image Homeworld is made in…" Lapis rejoined the conversation, still flying but on a level where she could directly communicate with the others. "It's the fact that no one ever sees her… except the Diamonds, I guess. But they're not telling, and that worries me. That makes it sound like White Diamond is… almost omniscient."

Peridot gulped at the idea. "I really hope that isn't the case; otherwise we're gonna have a _much_ harder time getting out of here than I anticipated." She looked to Lapis. "Anything up ahead? Are we in the clear?"

"As far as I can tell, yes," Lapis confirmed. "But I'm keeping my pouch open just in case." She briefly smiled to Peridot. "Thanks for getting me to refine my style, Peridot. You weren't kidding when you told me this world is devoid of usable water. I feel like you just taught me a valuable survival method that I can put to use in the future, once this is all over."

Lapis usually wasn't so candid about her feelings, so Peridot felt very touched to hear that. "You're very welcome. I'm just sorry I didn't have the opportunity to see that much of it."

"Hey, now! Let's not talk like we're not goin' back home today!" Bismuth called out to the two. "Let's just be prepared for _anything_ so we don't lose everything we worked for."

"That's right!" Steven agreed, picking up his pace. "We tried our best to work with Homeworld, and they broke the deal. Or maybe just White Diamond did. Doesn't matter! We're getting outta here, out of Homeworld, and nobody's gonna stop us!"

The group was within seconds of reaching the part of the veranda where the roads diverged; where entrance to the concourse, and out of the Diamonds' direct line of sight. Just as the Crystal Gems thought they had escaped the worst possible danger of Homeworld, everyone stopped short as blinding ball of white light emitted from the branch-off point. And when the light faded, a wave of shock and horror rushed through every body of the crew when it was revealed their literal roadblock was none other than the cracked Pearl they had seen in the distance.

"Can't let you do that, Starlight."

"Crud, I should have figured she would be able to see us," Peridot cursed under her breath. Being this close to White Pearl now, though, the leader of the Crystal Gems only partially held down a shudder that coursed through her body. It was more than the fear of being caught by the worst possible enemy that caused it…

"So it _is_ you in there, White Diamond," Steven declared. Calling him "Starlight" was a dead giveaway. "Forget it. If you won't negotiate, then we've got no reason to be here anymore! I'm taking my friends… my _family_ , and we are going home!"

"You're making a grave mistake, my dear," said White Pearl/Diamond. "But I will be merciful. Go back to your room, and I will consider sparing these reprobates you call a family."

Connie stood in front of Steven, guarding him on reflex even though she no longer had her sword. "Don't listen to her, Steven! She's just telling you what you want to hear!"

Steven didn't look the least bit convinced. "It's okay, Connie. I already know she's lying. If she's the one who made the order after we fused at the Era 3 Ball, and since you were _there_ ," he said and pointed to White Pearl. "That means Blue and Yellow knew you were there, and they wouldn't disobey your orders. You've only got yourself to blame, White. We could've made this work."

Peridot was able to hear Steven's speech. She wanted to give out a cutesy "Way to go, Steven!", but she didn't want to let everyone else know what happened when the two were alone earlier. And even if she did, a certain memory was returning to her as she listened to White Diamond speak through this battered, abused Pearl. And it was every bit as terrifying as everything else she remembered today, if not more so. She gave Lapis and Bismuth quick, pleading glances, which both caught and quickly understood.

"I will say this only one more time: **TO. YOUR. ROOM.** _ **NOW!**_ "

The ground far beneath them began to quake with every emphasized word. Her patience had run out. Connie looked behind to see the White Diamond bust, that ominous yet so-far harmless structure begin to shake along with the rumblings of the earth below. She gasped and gently elbowed Peridot to get her attention. The leader was shaken from her inner paralysis and followed Connie's gaze. She saw the color drain from Connie's face, and she shared the same terrified sensation. The bust of White Diamond was no mere decoration, or even some obscure residence or lair. It was a ship, the same type as her fellow Diamonds' crafts.

"Oh my stars… she's been watching us this entire time," Peridot realized. "She'll hear everything we say, see everything we do."

"So she knows where we're trying to go," Steven assumed, backing up apprehensively from White Pearl until he whipped around and saw the White Diamond ship slowly approach them. The ground continued to shake, making it hard for the group to maintain their footing on a _very_ bad area to be when earthquake-like conditions were happening. But the Crystal Gyms were stuck in a pincer formation. Running back would bring them right to the ominous ship, but White Pearl was guarding the exit they sought. Lapis hesitated to make a move; she was in no better a position than her grounded friends, as she had no cover in this area to evade aerial attacks. She was glad she kept her pouch open; even though White Diamond and her Pearl proxy kept a close eye on each member of the Crystal Gems, just daring them to make a move, Lapis knew if they just happened upon a miracle - a little good fortune for the PeriLuck crew, she'd find her opening to act.

"That's _enough_ , White!"

Lapis Lazuli did not expect that miracle to come in the form of Blue Diamond, who saw White Diamond's ship blasted from behind by a blue ball of aura. It looked like it didn't do any damage, but it did distract the Diamond, as the ship turned to face one of her own, turning on her.

" _Blue… that was unprecedented."_

The voice of White Diamond no longer came through White Pearl, but rather the ship, as it was much larger and echoed against the many structures of Homeworld's metropolis. White Pearl still held her stance regardless, but it was obvious to everyone that the real White Diamond was somewhere in that ship. A proxy in the form of a Pearl was nothing of a threat by comparison.

"That's our opening," Lapis whispered to herself before she quickly turned around, and conjured a fierce stream of ice water that hit White Pearl directly. Lapis smirked, but held her fire steady; she refused to let the proxy get in any sort of offensive move.

She also knew not to raise her voice now that the ship had been distracted. Lapis briefly wondered if Blue Diamond realized she was sacrificing herself for them…

The rest of the Crystal Gems smiled with gratitude at their savior. Bismuth seemed to read Lapis' mind, as she took the initiative to rush over and smash the frozen White Pearl with her hammer arm to dislodge her from their exit point. In haste, she took another crack at the helpless White Pearl and send the frozen-solid gem careening off the ledge to the deep depths below, where no one could make out what was actually down there.

Connie wasn't bothered by Bismuth's actions and ran along with her; she knew the war veteran was eliminating a major source of danger that could pursue them if she recovered. Bismuth backed her up and the pair entered the concourse.

Steven, predictably, had a harder time moving forward as he was stunned with Bismuth's actions. After everything they talked about… the most uncomfortable subject matter of all, Steven witnessed Bismuth basically execute a gem. No way she would survive a fall like that, and being frozen made her helpless to save herself. The boy's empathy levels welled up to overflowing levels, and Blue Diamond's tear-inducing aura while she tried in vain to resist White Diamond didn't help matters.

"How… how could she…"

Peridot had not run ahead because she knew better. A leader's job wasn't just to unite her team or follow her example; there was also the most important rule of making sure everyone is safe. And she had a feeling Steven would be too emotionally vulnerable to just run past this.

Even though Lapis was still present for reasons uncertain, she was airborne and fixated on Blue Diamond's struggle while conjuring up a new technique she learned while training on Earth. Even if she was standing right there next to them, watching their every move, Peridot couldn't let that stop her from doing what had to be done. She rushed up to Steven, rested her hands over his shoulders, and leaned in to kiss him. It was a modest and brief kiss, but heartfelt enough to jolt Steven back into reality.

"Uh? P-Peridot…?!" Steven didn't even know what to ask; his mind was too scrambled to think straight, but he knew that kiss was real. However, despite the loving kiss she offered, Peridot's face was in stark contrast; firm, intense, and authoritative.

"Steven, I want you to listen to me," she ordered as she moved her hands down to interlace their fingers. "I admire your compassion for all living things; I really do. But you need to understand that you don't always get what you want in life! Sometimes, bad things just _happen_ , and there's nothing you can do about it! There's no fate or destiny to it! What I'm trying to tell you is that you _can't_ save everyone, Steven Universe. That's already a statistical impossibility, given the amount of lives lost already before we were even born. We are running for our lives right now, do you understand me? The odds are stacked so high in _their_ favor, I'm honestly surprised we made it this far. If you let your pacifism interfere with this mission, I can personally guarantee you we aren't making it out of here alive. Not all of us, anyway."

Steven took in the words, and from how Peridot could tell, he wasn't taking them well. He understood it wasn't his place to speak until Peridot finished. His leader let out a sigh and tried a slightly gentler approach.

"I know it isn't fair, Steven. I wish it was. But in a situation like this, your refusal to execute versus an enemy who will not hesitate to execute, a _Diamond_ no less, are mutually exclusive paths in the decisions we're forced to make. We're in no position for you to try and talk peace, and trust me, if a Diamond is chasing us down, we can't spare even a second to dwell on unpleasant things you had to do to survive. _Always keep moving._ You've got people on Earth who miss you like crazy, especially your paternal unit. Sympathy for the devil is a sentiment that will ruin _everything_ , Steven. You're putting everyone in danger acting like this, do you understand?"

Steven barely had a voice to him when he replied, "I… yeah, I do, but-"

" _No buts._ Steven, I'm not talking to you as your friend. I'm not talking to you as your love interest. I'm _definitely_ not talking to you as your little twin sister figure." Yes, on the odd occasion certain gems would refer to the pair like this. "I'm speaking to you, Steven, as your leader. Until we get Garnet reformed, you're my responsibility. I will never leave you behind, Steven, but right now all you're doing is dragging everyone else down! So snap out of it before I… I dunno, kiss you again? Doesn't feel right to slap you-" Peridot stopped herself from taking this conversation on the rails when she was only now getting Steven close to the door. "You know what, Steven? Back in my Kindergarten, you were "ooh"ing and "ahh"ing at everything I told you I did as a legit Crystal Gems leader. If you really meant that you can see me and respect me as a leader, then show it already! I'm not asking you to approve of how certain gems dispatch enemies; I'm telling you to not spit in their face by mourning over someone who just tried to end your life! _Are you listening to me, Steven?!_ "

Peridot got her response with a receipt on that kiss she just gave Steven before going on her tirade. He was clearly still apprehensive, but conceded to his leader's will. It only lingered for a few seconds before Steven pulled away. "I always listen to you, Peridot. I always like hearing what you have to say. I'm… I'm gonna make this up to you guys, but I really really really want you all to come back to Earth with me… alive. So I'll just… suck it up and listen to my leader. Let's go home, Peridot!"

Peridot could tell that Steven was behaving similarly to her; he was straining himself in suppressing his usual quirks. But in the end, Steven Universe was steadfast. It was a work in progress, but that's all the time Peridot could spare for a pep talk. Blue Diamond was not faring well against White Diamond at all, and behind her, it looked like Yellow Diamond was also present behind Blue, but conflicted on what action to take: help Blue Diamond, or obey White like she was always meant to.

"You think you can make it there without holding my hand?" Peridot asked him, now playfully teasing her cherished center of gravity. "I need to make sure Lapis isn't planning on some stupid sacrifice over there; Bismuth and Connie had the right idea."

Steven blushed and waved his hand at her dismissively. "I think I'll manage. You two better be right behind me!" And with that, he finally ran and made it into the concourse under the cover of thousands, if not millions of Homeworld citizens.

Now it was Lapis' turn. Peridot wasn't as concerned, because she knew Lapis had an infinitely more level head on her shoulders than Steven ever would, but she couldn't read her old roommate. She was lingering for some reason. "Lapis! What's the hold-up?!"

"It's my new technique, don't you see?" Lapis asked her "I'm making mist! Fog! It'll cover for us!"

"It's just you and me here now, Lapis," Peridot pointed out. "You're invested in something back there and that fog is just an excuse. Very impressive work, but just an excuse."

"I just don't understand… why Blue Diamond is helping us," Lapis admitted. "Don't you see the position she's in right now? She had nothing to gain and everything to lose for doing this! She doesn't even know who we are!"

"She knows we're Steven's family, Lapis. That's all she needs to know, and same to you. You may never know the whole story, but that's just how it is sometimes. Respect the sacrifice for what it is, Lapis Lazuli. If she hadn't interfered, we'd all be shattered right now. We'll pay our respects when we get home." She extended her hand to the still-airborne Lapis. "Come on. Trust me… I'm sure you shouldn't be seeing all of this.

For the the first time, Lapis felt Blue Diamond's mutual tears as she was physically, mentally, and emotionally tortured by White Diamond. She was quick to brush then away and nod to Peridot, though her eyes were glued to Blue Diamond. She expressed her gratitude as quietly as she could while she descended; the fog she created shot up her pouch as if it was a vacuum. Just before her fingers reached Peridot's, her message was softly sent to Blue Diamond, both vocally and mentally. And somehow, Blue Diamond heard the words as well.

" _For your great and noble sacrifice, I thank you…_

… _my Diamond."_

* * *

Peridot and Lapis finally regrouped with Steven, and not long after Connie and Bismuth as well. They had no time to ask why certain people took so long to take cover, but Peridot was quick to sprint from the rear up to the front of the pack. She looked to Connie and Bismuth.

"I'm proud of you both; you're the only two who already understood the gravity of our situation," she told them. "We need to find a good place to regroup; now that we're officially being pursued, we all need to be on the same page!"

"Understood! And thank you!" Connie shouted. Bismuth nodded to her little friend knowingly.

"You know this place better than us, Peri," the war veteran reminded her leader. "Just point out a place you think is safe and we'll fall in line, ma'am!"

Of course, Peridot only had a vague idea of this particular concourse's layout because it wasn't one she often visited for work. The amount of traffic in this concourse was staggering, and it didn't help that the majority of them were Quartz soldiers.

"O-okay, it looks like we're in Terminal 1L4N," Peridot reported as she examined her surroundings. "I see a rest area in the center with a map coming up ahead. Not the best for cover, but we're not sticking around here for long, anyway!"

"Got it!" Connie understood.

Luckily, even though it was impossible for the group to maintain a consistent chain, they were close enough to each other not to get lost. Soon enough, all of them rested on a bench, catching their breath, or alternatively suppressing their fear of White Diamond.

Peridot typed furiously into her tablet, formulating a plan. She decided now that she had a new memory inadvertently unlocked, it was important to let others know about it. This would be crucial to their survival. But first…

"Amethyst? What is wrong with you? Come out, already. It's safe now."

"Pearl, wake up! Come on, you gotta wake up! We could really use your help! Are you okay?! Please be okay!"

"Garnet… why won't you answer me? It's been over 2 days now. Y-you don't look damaged, I mean you, Ruby and Sapphire…"

Peridot turned to look at Lapis, Connie, and Steven respectively. By now the daytime had almost come to an end, so another cycle since the fallout at the ball was about to commence. "It's been that long and they're still not out? Who poofed them?"

"Someone who put you on the receiving end of it a few days ago," Connie said calmly. "Yellow Diamond."

"Okay, I feel their pain, then. But… hey, Bismuth, Lapis, how long was I out?" Peridot was genuinely curious.

"Most of the day, since nighttime to evening the next day," Bismuth reported. "In other words, you reformed quicker than these four."

Peridot nodded, and made a quick gesture to save her progress on her tablet before looking to the three holding gemstones. "My best guess is they got a _really_ bad direct hit," she offered. "But that's okay! Did you know there's gemstone regeneration stations all over this terminal, and all others. It's like the equivalent of bathrooms in those big store chains!"

Adorable as it was to see Peridot's unbridled enthusiasm, Bismuth wanted to get straight to the point. "So where's the nearest one? We're gonna need all the back-up we can get if a Diamond's on our butts. When do we need to start running again?"

"Literally, as soon as we restore the original Crystal Gems," Peridot replied. "And we're in luck. There's a station right over by the left corridor." She sat up. "Let's get moving, people."

"Right… we're not out of the woods yet," Connie agreed as she stood, holding Pearl's gemstone close to her chest. Steven grasped Ruby and Sapphire's in each palm, while Lapis held it securely with both hands without embracing it.

* * *

"I still can't believe our luck," Peridot remarked as she watched the gemstones of Ruby and Sapphire glow in the restorative machine, indicating they were nearly ready to come out. "A closed kiosk in this dinky little corner with security measures made from some just-emerged Peridot."

"These definitely didn't exist in my time," Bismuth commented, keeping an eye on Pearl with Connie. "How is it that these things are so common? If we weren't under a time crunch, heck, I'd steal one and take it with us."

Peridot smirked. "You could always dismantle it and carry the pieces in a bag. I guarantee you I'll be able to rebuild _and_ improve upon it when we get home. That's just a silly challenge I'm issuing you; take it or leave it."

"Well! Now I'm feeling mighty tempted. We can go into Bismuth for ourselves!"

Everyone shared a brief laugh at that, and they felt so much better for it. A heavy weight evaporated above them, and everyone felt much more serene. No one knew how much they needed that.

"As for why there's a lot of them, well… I thought it was obvious. If a gem for any reason poofs and they have duties to perform, these will speed up the regeneration process. It's a rarity for Peridots to be in there. This is for the average and fragile-grade gems who can't afford to sit around as a stone all day." Now Peridot looked smug. "Now, it's a way we can help our friends directly."

Lapis looked over to her leader - she was the one checking on Amethyst's progress. "Peridot, it looked like you were about to tell us something before you noticed the gemstones. Care to share?"

"Might as well save it for when we're all officially back together," answered a yawning Peridot. "I really don't like having to repeat myself."

As if on cue, the restoration machine for the Ruby and Sapphire stones emitted a very strong glow, prompting the machine to cease its function and open up so the gems could reform properly. Everyone waited with baited breath as the red and blue figures from the gem quickly merged together, and finally, the original Crystal Team leader Garnet was back, donning something of a new look with a new color scheme to her clothes and golden shades shaped like a bisected top part of a star. The two-tone accent migrated from her legs to her hips and lower abdomen.

Her first reaction was to assume a defensive position and grimace, but soon realized she was no longer in the royal ballroom. She carefully inspected her surroundings, as they were not familiar to her. Like Bismuth and Lapis, Homeworld had changed too much for Garnet to recognize in the present day. She found a delighted star-brandishing Peridot to her left. To her right, Steven, Lapis, Connie, and Bismuth were there to welcome her back. Instinctively, she knelt down to hug Steven before looking to the others to speak.

"I foresee a great deal of exposition coming very soon," she said coolly. "But it's a great relief to see you all again. I don't need future vision to see you all have worked long and hard to make it this far."

"It's so great to see you again, Garnet!" Peridot squealed, and since she was the closest to the newly-reformed gem, she did not hesitate to greet her with a hug. Sure, it wasn't the behavior of a professional leader, but right now Peridot just wanted to behave like a friend.

"We're gonna explain everything to you guys once Amethyst and Pearl come back too," Connie assured Garnet. "A whole lot happened… and even I don't know the half of it."

"Don't know the half of what? Oh, Connie, you look like you've been sweating up a storm…"

"PEARL!" Connie turned around to hug Pearl in a way very much like Peridot's.

"Man, are you a sight for sore eyes!" Bismuth cried out with happiness as she have Pearl a much more modest hug.

Pearl too had an entirely new outfit; one that differed from her original even more so than Garnet's by far. The shoes were the same, at least, only colored pink now. Pearl's legs were almost entirely covered in muted blue leggings, and a lofty cyan blazer adorned with a yellow star on her back over an teal top. She looked much more relaxed and casual.

"Speak for yourself!" Pearl laughed, overjoyed by the warm welcoming committee, that only for a moment supplanted her primary line of thought being "where are we and what happened?".

"I guess it's our job to give Amethyst a hug when she comes out, right, Lapis?" Steven rhetorically asked the gem beside him. "Garnet and Pearl got some love, so…"

"Pssht. I never agreed to hugging anyone," Lapis said in a purely exaggerated snobbish tone, and even turned her nose up. "You guys are a bunch of saps."

"Aw, c'mon! Let Amethyst know she's loved and we miss her!" Steven urged.

Lapis rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I can do that without the hugging, thank you."

"Nah, you're just too shy," Peridot deduced, not having yet let go of her grasp on Garnet, who didn't mind at all. "Or too insecure. Whichever the most common Earth reason is."

"Don't _even_ ," Lapis huffed. "Steven can hug enough for-"

" **SURPRISE HUG ATTACK!"**

Since Lapis had her back turned, she never noticed Amethyst reforming - as everyone else clearly noticed, and had a good laugh at poor Lapis' expense when she screamed out of shock and would have gone airborne it it wasn't for Amethyst's body impeding them.

"Not-so-surprise hug attack!" Steven cheered as he hugged them both.

"You get a pass," Lapis told Steven flatly before she resumed looking completely frazzled and flustered. "The rest of you suck, forever."

Finally, with everyone reunited, the Crystal Gems shared a moment of hearty laughter.

But Peridot, now diligent with her duty and not just content with being comic relief, brought everyone to attention. "Hey, everyone. Y'know I'm as choked up and happy that we're all finally together again, but we need to settle down."

Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst looked surprised at Peridot taking control of the conversation and being professional about it. Even the likes of Lapis and Connie were surprised how leader-like the little gem had become. After being healed, there didn't seem to be a single hiccup in her resolve.

"We need Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst acclimated to the present day as soon as possible," Peridot explained with a straight face. "And… we might be here a while, so let's begin with an official greeting. So…"

The aforementioned three stared at her intently, while the rest of the group kicked back and prepared to listen to Peridot's story. She usually told the most interesting stories by the campfire, anyway, so the gem was a natural public speaker.

"Hey, the Great and Lovable Peridot here. I'm also known as the Leader of the Crystal Gems, navigator, space ship designer, technician, among other titles. But call me whatever you want, because I cannot overstate how happy we are to finally have you back."

* * *

"Wow. Mind is totally blown," remarked Amethyst. "Can I shrink back? I think I need a week to "get" all of this."

"A Diamond sacrificed herself to save you all…" Of course Pearl was stuck on that detail. "How surreal.."

"I agree we've heard and seen some really messed up stuff while we rescued you all. Apparently, rescuing you guys when we found you was the _dullest_ part of this mission so far." Peridot sighed. "But we'll have time to figure this stuff out when we make it to the ship and get out of here. There's no doubt in my mind that White Diamond is still looking for us. We can't get complacent, and once we leave this spot, I really don't want any more rest stops. This is the final stage of the mission, but it can still fall apart if _she_ sees us."

"You mentioned before that once you broke her line of sight, you no longer saw immediate signs of pursuit," Garnet mentioned. "You also have new information on White Diamond you've yet to tell anyone here about. I believe now is the time."

"Ugh, right…" Peridot was getting exhausted but she pressed onward. "When White Pearl impeded our progress and White Diamond had us caught in a pincer formation. That triggered an old memory… probably when I started developing a sense of self-preservation. This was back when I still worked here. It seemed like sacrilege to even say White Diamond's name out loud, let alone gossip about her. Then, one day, I came across one of the other Peridots I worked with, but there was something wrong with her. She had lost all color in her body, dead eyes, and a really forced smile. She looked a lot like that White Pearl did. I wanted to inquire about this unprecedented alteration, but she acted like I didn't exist. Probably for the best, since she really creeped me out ever since."

Peridot held out her bubble containing Yellow Pearl. "I _finally_ got some info from my manager about her, because she stopped coming to work entirely. She told me this Peridot had been caught in something really scandalous, and it involved the Diamonds. When I told my boss that this didn't look like anything Yellow Diamond would have done, because her style is more straightforward, she finally mentioned White Diamond to me, and that the Peridot had been subjected to something called _pallidification_ \- and that's why she lost all of her color and why she lost all sentience. She called it the ultimate punishment; right up there with execution, though that's at least quick. When a gem is made pallid, they're dead in all but bodily function, and that's entirely controlled as well. I'd feel a chill any time I even _saw_ a pallid in a crowd far away from me."

"So, you are saying there's a chance we will come across these "pallids", but you have not yet said what makes them a danger to us," Garnet criticized.

Peridot looked a little hurt and downtrodden, but picked herself back up quickly enough. "Now that I saw that White Pearl, up close and personal, I understood why I could never be calm with one in the room. The pallids serve as extra sets of eyes for White Diamond."

That statement made everyone go dead silent.

"Think about it!" Peridot urged her audience. "Apparently, she never leaves that giant ship shaped like her head, and it's been established that she outranks Blue and Yellow Diamond, but how does she rule Homeworld with an iron fist if she never leaves? It's because she doesn't need to, ever, as long as she can create pallids from any gem she desires. She supplants their consciousness, disregarding the well-being of that gem, and then uses the body to act on her desires. She used that White Pearl to make sure we couldn't get away when we were up on the bridge over the metropolis. She would've had us if Blue Diamond hadn't distracted her."

Lapis looked notably more sympathetic about that topic more so than any other, but she needed to ask something. "Peridot, what do you think is going to happen?"

"These terminals are filled to the brim with gems of all kinds that commute to and from their jobs!" Peridot pointed out into the distance where the crowded concourse actually was. The Crystal Gems managed to luck out finding such an isolated place that was never used that they were able to use for as long as they did. But that would just balance out the very long, non-stop dash to the terminal where they started from. "And I'm getting the impression that pallidification isn't some complex process; she could do this to anyone, at any time, anywhere. How do you all feel about trying to make it back to the ship when the hallways are stuffed with mindless White Diamond eyes that want us shattered?!"

Garnet thought this over. "You could be right. We need to move as soon as possible, and be very discreet. It will be a challenge, but Peridot is right about the importance of sticking together. I suggest either a very subtle chain, or spaced out smaller groups of 2 to 3."

"So we'll never know if there's a pallid just hiding in the crowd monitoring us. What should we do if one sees us?" asked a very worried Pearl.

"We make a break for it; preferably we head for a lower floor so the pallid's line of sight will break," Garnet answered. "The longer we hold out here, the greater the chance there is that she finds us. Is everyone ready to move out?"

Steven, Connie, Lapis, and Bismuth stood immediately. Amethyst just shrugged before she stood up. "Hey, I'm ready to outwit a bunch of glorified walkers anytime."

And lastly, Pearl stood. "There is so much wrong with all of this… but we'll work it out, I suppose. We always do. I'll have time to cry about this when I'm back on Earth."

While Peridot had been standing the whole time, she reluctantly tapped Garnet's leg. "Before we go, Garnet… there's a couple of things I'd like to speak to you about in private. I assure you it's all relevant to our mission." She looked extremely nervous to be asking this of Garnet, but smiled when the original leader gave her a thumbs up.

Garnet looked to the others. "All of you, be prepared to go when I return. I need to speak with Peridot for the moment."

"Maybe take some peeks out there and get a lay of the land so we'll know what we're getting into. Just remember we're headed due east," Peridot added before following Garnet to a dark, quiet corner. It almost seemed like Garnet wanted to tell Peridot something important as well… but maybe it was her imagination.

"You've done a good job, leading in my place," Garnet told her immediately. "You are a gem full of surprises; never in any future vision of mine have I seen you act as bold and mature as you have for this mission."

"W-wow, thanks," Peridot giggled with a blush. "That means so much coming from you. That's actually one of the two things I meant to talk to you about."

"I have a feeling I know what you're about to say, but go ahead."

Peridot bowed to Garnet. "Now that you're back, it is only right that I relinquish the title of leadership back to its rightful owner. It was a fluke that I even became one in the first place, and… I trust you'll do a better job than me getting us through this last step."

"It was not a fluke at all, Peridot. You've proved yourself many times over how worthy you are as a Crystal Gem, and I feel you've made a step forward into a future where you will become so much more than just "a leader". That isn't the future vision talking, for the record."

"I feel like you're not the first person who's said that to me lately," Peridot mumbled. "And I don't understand one bit of that. I mean, I'm flattered…"

"I will not revoke your leadership unless that is what you truly want," Garnet decided. "This has been your mission all along, Peridot. You brought two gems who seemed completely incompatible together and made them not only well-functioning teammates, but now close friends. Your knowledge and planning founded this mission to begin with. I'm sure you've made mistakes. But don't forget that sometimes, I'm not as good as they make me out to be." She gently patted Peridot's hair. "You've been through a lot, and should you wish to talk about it with me when we return to Earth, my door is always open. I would be happy to help you hone your leadership skills as well; it's clear that having only one leader figure in this team can lead to catastrophic events, but you've made the best of them, Peridot. Personally, I vote to keep you on as leader for the duration of this mission." Then Garnet slid down her visor and winked at Peridot with one of her eyes.

"O-oh, oh dear… w-well, uh, I thank you for the vote of confidence!" Peridot never before sounded more grateful to hear such praise. "You've said all these nice things about me, and now I'm gonna ruin it with my second topic…"

Garnet simply smiled at Peridot and nodded to her. "I'm listening."

Peridot's face grew more stern and serious now. "Garnet… I'll preface this by saying I _really_ hate asking this of you. Really, I do. I'll come off as such a clod for asking but I swear it's for a good cause and _brrrrrrhgh_ , okay, okay." She straightened herself out to speak formally. "Garnet, until we're in the clear and can handle the leftovers of whatever ambush comes our way, or if we can permanently blind these pallids somehow… I have to ask that you cease and desist your fusion on the grounds that you know how taboo your particular fusion is and you'll be extremely easy for White Diamond to spot. I-I just… I don't know how to make you not stand out as Garnet. I wish it wasn't like this on Homeworld, but there's nothing we can do about that. Fusions draw attention; that's how it's always been."

"Hm…"

"I-I know you just got married, Ruby and Sapphire, but no one expected this stupid Diamond attack to crash your wedding! I just want to do whatever it takes to make sure my teammates are safe, and Garnet herself is just a big red target sign. I don't want to take that risk, okay? Please understand…"

"Your points are valid," Garnet acknowledged. "Your motivations are sound, and above all else, you are my leader. You certainly talked like a leader just now. So who am I to tell you no?"

Peridot felt herself nearly faint. Garnet sounded 100% behind her on everything, and that's something she never could have predicted would come true. She covered her mouth as the tall and mighty Garnet stood across from her no more: now it was Ruby and Sapphire, hand-in-hand smiling at Peridot. They were roughly her size, which was kind of a nice change of pace.

"Oh, thank the stars," Peridot sighed with relief.

"We're trusting you on this, Peri," Ruby declared, pointing at her.

"You've really impressed us, Dot," Sapphire said softly.

"I see what you two did there."

* * *

Once Peridot briefed the team on why Ruby and Sapphire broke their fusion, they formulated a plan to head east. 2F5L was the terminal they sought. Fortunately, after so much running around, they were starting to close in.

The strategy the Crystal Gems opted for was the Buddy System, of all things. They walked along single file as best they could, with the lead buddy of the pair constantly holding the hand of their partner. At the head of the group was Pearl and Connie, followed by Bismuth and Lapis, Steven and Amethyst, and Peridot brought up the rear caught in the middle between Ruby and Sapphire. She insisted on this because she knew oh-so well the couple's penchant for flirting even at the most inappropriate of times. There were also the instances where the two fused unintentionally at the worst possible time, and of all times an places, having it happen here would just be the worst.

"Maybe you'd better be careful, Dot," Sapphire teased. "All three of us just might fuse on accident."

"Nice try, Sapphire, but I already know I can't fuse with anybody. It's the "gift" that come from being a pathetic Era 2," Peridot countered.

"What, is that Era 2 a crutch or something for you?" Ruby asked. She was the one leading the line. "You're capable of plenty of stuff; who cares if you're way younger than the rest of us and made out of lesser… stuff, y'know? Stop being such a whiner!"

"Ruby, hush," Sapphire ordered. "Concentrate on keeping your pace up so we don't lose the others."

"I wasn't even whining…." Peridot noted. "Just stating an objective fact."

"Don't mind her; she's been in a sour mood since our wedding was crashed," Sapphire assured her. "Besides, we've always wanted to get to know you better. There haven't been many opportunities for us to meet like this. I know Ruby wanted the same; otherwise we wouldn't have split as easily as we did."

"Yeah, um. I'm sorry for giving Garnet a hard time about you know. Y'know, asking Garnet not to be fused when I first joined the team…" Peridot felt it was pertinent to at least apologize for these old transgressions.

"Man, you're digging up that old relic?" You're really reaching there, Peri."

Ruby was even worse at masking her emotions than Peridot was. Now Peridot sort of understood why she could easily frustrate her friends at times. "Wow, passive-aggressive much? Ruby, are you sure you're not mad at me for splitting you two up? I swear it's only going to be until we reach the 2F5L terminal, then boom, go back to being Garnet forever."

" _Rrrrrggh_ …"

She even made weird frustrated sounds like Peridot. Which the gem herself took notice to.

"It's- not really, just this whole stupid situation," Ruby admitted. "And _why_ is it so full of gems here? We're getting squeezed against the wall by these dumb worker drones every other second!"

"S-sorry, this is sort of analogous to "rush hour" traffic on Earth," Peridot explained. "It sucks, I know. But this is our best way to cover ourselves, you gotta admit. The few pallids I've seen haven't even looked in our direction. That all might change once the herd thins out… but it's fine, we'll be fine…"

Sapphire noticed Peridot's hands started to quiver. "It's okay to be scared, you know. Even leaders aren't infallible."

"I've already been the hugest coward to ever be a leader several times today," Peridot grumbled. "What exactly do the two of you even see in me?"

"If I were to list those things, we'd be here all night," Sapphire said with a quiet laugh.

"I see your willpower."

Both Sapphire and Peridot looked to Ruby. "Uh, you do?"

"I'm admitting it, okay!" Ruby huffed. "Your tenacity is admirable. You put your all in everything you do. We've never seen a gem adapt so quickly and so… so…"

"Thoroughly?" Sapphire supplied.

"Y-yeah, that! We've been on Earth for thousands of years and there are still some Earth customs we have trouble with. And as Garnet, well, you know how she does. You haven't even been on Earth for a year, and when we look at you, it's like Earth was always your home! It just makes me ask, _grrgh_ , why couldn't I do it like you do?!"

"Well, unlike the clods we're trying to fit through here, _we_ are distinctive individuals. When you look at all these gems we're just leaving behind on this dead rock, you should be proud of yourself that you made it to where you are now," said Peridot. "I mean, forget me, _you_ got married! I didn't even know that was a thing until your wedding."

"Would you like to be married one day?" Sapphire asked with a smile. "It may be the closest you'll ever get to experiencing fusion. Although…"

"Y'know Sapphy, if Stevonnie can exist, why can't-"

"I never said anything of the sort, Sweetums," Sapphire stated. "I've still never had a premonition about that kind of fusion. I'm not sure why…"

"I just _love_ how you two talk like I'm not _right in between you_ …"

Both Ruby and Sapphire shared a laugh, stifled by their hands so as not to attract attention.

Peridot just groaned and sighed - it was not fun being in the middle of the chain with Ruby firmly pulling one arm forward while dragging Sapphire behind her. And curses, Peridot forgot she could _levitate_.

Just then, from the corner of her eye, she spotted something _white_. Panicking, she turned her head around to see an alarming number of pallid gems, of many varieties. And they were coming in a steady stream, walking at a faster pace than their colored counterparts that would land them right on top of this 3-gem buddy system within minutes. Upon closer inspection, Peridot noticed some of the more prolific pallid gem types would indiscriminately touch whatever non-pallid gems were in their radius. Just with the single touch of a shoulder, she witnessed an Aquamarine's color drain away from her body until she was just completely monochrome like the rest of the hive mind. Her eyes became glassy and lifeless and bore an unusually large smile, just like the rest.

"Psst! Hey! You two!" Peridot whispered.

"I saw it," Sapphire said, cutting to the chase. "Only just now. Forgive me."

"What're you-" Ruby looked behind her and saw the white current among the colored sea of people spreading like a disease coming right towards them. She covered her mouth, because she wanted to _scream_.

"We need to warn the others," Peridot realized. "Oh stars, how are we going to pull this off when we're…" She trailed off when she looked to Ruby. "Ruby…? Wasn't Amethyst right ahead of you?"

"Huh?" Ruby looked ahead and saw no Amethyst. Somehow the gem traffic severed the connection the moment they weren't paying attention. "Oh _no_. _No_. I screwed up, I screwed up, I screwed up…!"

"There was nothing we could have done about it, Ruby," Sapphire said, trying to ease her worries. "I hate to say this, but we need to break apart. Ruby, you need to warn the others. If it took me this long to notice we're on the verge of being ambushed, it'll be too late for the rest of them."

"Why just me?!" Ruby fumed as quietly as she could.

"Because, if you try to find them dragging the two of us around, we're going to be mowing gems down and just inviting White Diamond to take a free shot at us," Peridot explained with barely-contained aggravation. "I'm just glad you suggested this before I did, Sapphire."

Sapphire nodded. "I knew you would appreciate the gesture." She turned to focus on Ruby. "Now, Ruby, listen to me. _Listen_ to me."

"I-I am listening…"

" _Really_ listen to me," Sapphire insisted. "This is not the time to be clingy. If you don't reach our friends in time, we're all finished. I promise you, the second we meet again, we will fuse. I need you to be strong and do this on your own before that."

"B-but, what're you two gonna do if I leave you behind…?"

"Ruby, I can see into the future, and Peridot is a genius. Do you have so little faith in us, that we can't take care of ourselves?"

Peridot nodded and smiled, though she wasn't sure why. Ruby really did need the reassurance, though… "Yeah, yeah, don't even worry." Her tone shifted to something more serious. "I swear on my life as a Crystal Gem, I'll protect Sapphire until you get back. And you have my full blessing to become Garnet again as well; we're only one floor away from 2F5L. You have my word. Now please do me that same courtesy, for our friends…?"

That actually moved Ruby. "There's the strong, reliable Peridot I was looking for." She shook Peridot's hand to indicate an informal agreement between the two. "I'll make sure your friends stay pallid-free. Come as soon as you can; they'll be looking for their leader."

"And their leader will come to them in a blaze of glory," Peridot smugly followed up. "No seriously, I will. So good luck, Ruby."

Ruby nodded, and finally Peridot had one free hand as she watched her friend disappear into the mass of slow-moving gem bodies.

"Okay, I'll be straight with you," Peridot sighed. "I don't have a plan for this."

Sapphire latched herself onto Peridot's back. "Don't worry, you will. But there's something we seriously need to talk about."

"It can't _wait?_ "

"It can't," Sapphire insisted. "In a few feet there should be a little alcove on our end. There's a table with some abstract structure on it; there's just enough size for us to fit under the table."

Seconds later, Peridot saw exactly that. "Huh, so there is." They both slid underneath the table. It was a snug fit, but it also gave them cover so none of the passing gems would see them. "Okay, good start. How perfectly did we time getting under here, now?"

Sapphire remained still. "Take a peek outside right…. now."

Peridot whipped her head out from under the table, then frantically pulled herself back 2 seconds later. " _Oh my stars_. That… that's Blue Diamond… and… and she's _pallid_ …." Peridot felt herself smiling uncontrollably, like her body was trying to convince her mind that this couldn't possibly be real. "White Diamond infected one of her own and now she's headed towards my fr-"

Peridot was cut off when heavy, rumbling thuds of a giant marching nearby shook the area, even making the table reverberate. She was _not_ looking out there again, but she didn't need to. She saw the legs of the giant who was mere inches away from the two hiding gems. From what little she could make out of the golden yellow color and the size of her leg…. then remembered just who passed by…

"Yellow Diamond, too? Only she's fine…"

"Only so far," Sapphire told her. "I have a feeling this night will not end well for her. But you see we're bound to have a massive battle on our hands, and right by our exit."

"I think I feel sick…"

Sapphire sighed. This was going to be a very long night. A night where anyone coming out of this happy were slim to nil. "I'm afraid this isn't going to help, but you _need_ to see this, Peridot… my leader."

Peridot's eyes bugged out when she felt Sapphire kiss her cheek. "H- _Hey?!_ What's this all ab-"

She got her answer quick as she began to see something play out very clearly in her head, reflected within her eyes. Sapphire held both hands gently with her own. She was going to need to communicate with Peridot, because it took her forever to glean anything from this prophetic message.

There was hardly any color, and the picture quality was grainy, with some flickering. It soon focused into a more coherent picture. The setting was definitely the 2F5L terminal. Various pallid gems were getting poofed by her friends, though which friends they were kept shifting between frames. A brief flash showed a horrified Yellow Diamond standing back, as if she was helpless to stand against whatever attacked her… most likely White Diamond.

Then there was the hallway with the broken gate. Where she, Lapis, and Bismuth engineered a perfect escape route. Peridot now found herself imposed within Sapphire's vision. A translucent Sapphire appeared beside her.

" _I acquired this vision a while ago, but I could not make any sense of it until now. When I realized its true meaning, I knew I had to tell you right away. This vision… I strongly feel will be our future. The problem is… well, I think you can see for yourself."_

Peridot looked down at herself and gawked. "GAH! Why did I become Amethyst?! Did she shapeshift into me during this battle or something?!"

" _Give it time; this isn't the end yet."_

Peridot checked herself out again, only to find she was now Connie. "Yeah, okay. I saw some of my friends swap places in the background early on. I'm assuming this isn't a glitch."

" _The enemy has been successfully repelled,"_ Sapphire pointed over to where Blue and Yellow Diamond were lifeless on the ground. It seemed the projection of White Diamond was shorting out. The coast was clear; Peridot smiled as she watched her friends _"We have nothing standing in our way… we can finally go home."_

Peridot was beaming with pride. She said it over and over, she was going to be a good leader; a responsible one, and she was going to rescue everyone and bring them home. She watched as her friends dashed down the hall, jumping down into the exit chute one by one, even though said friends kept shifting into other friends. It was nothing that bothered Peridot too much; it seemed like something an artist would do.

" _It's wonderful, isn't it? The odds were stacked so highly against us, but we are coming home. We will be going back to Earth, to live our happy lives…"_

"Wait. Something's getting back up." Peridot noticed. There were still a few straggler friends her shifting avatar was trying to hurry along to the tunnel. "H-hurry up, you clods! You're just begging to get sniped at the last minute!"

The straggler friends did make their way down the chute eventually. Now all that remained was Peridot's shifting avatar, who started running. "Okay, so we're still making good time. It looks like White's trying to pull something, but there's no way she can reach whoever this is in ti-"

Peridot's shifting avatar fell. What from, it was unclear, but it was a nasty fall nonetheless. The head must have been hit, because now the vision was getting hazy.

"The tunnel is 5 feet away, you stupid idiot! Just crawl!"

The fact that Sapphire had stopped talking was very telling. This was what she wanted her leader to see. After some visible struggling, the last Crystal Gem looked up outside. The PeriLuck had risen, and moments later blasted off as scheduled. When the ship was no longer visible, everything faded to black as the avatar had either passed out or died by this point. Before Peridot could say anything, the sudden visage of what had to be White Diamond's face flickered before the vision was complete. Even Sapphire winced at the sudden White Diamond jump scare, but could only imagine how much worse it would be to suffer that in real life.

"B-back up the vision a bit," Peridot insisted. "I want to know who it is we last see before losing consciousness or dying."

" _If you insist."_ But Sapphire knew already this was a waste of time. Peridot was doing what Sapphire herself had done thousands of times over.

The last frame of the avatar after it fell froze. The body was that of Bismuth's.

"N-no! No, absolutely not!" Peridot cried out. "Not Bismuth, I can't let that happen!"

" _Peridot… I understand your feelings. But I need you to look at this more deeply. You're still taking it for face value."_

"What are you talking about…?"

" _Allow me to run that same cut of footage. The beginning and endpoint on the time stamp are identical to what I showed first. So, watch again."_

And Peridot did. Everything played out exactly the same way. But when it got to the end this time, the final frame displayed Garnet's body. And that's when Peridot caught on.

"Sapphire… is it a different person every time you play this?"

" _Absolutely."_

"So… that body could just as easily be mine, couldn't it?"

The frame shifted the avatar again, revealing Peridot sprawled on the floor. _"Just as easily? Yes. It has never showed me the same person twice. Now, what does that tell you?"_

"That… this could happen to any one of us. All of this you showed me! Every position an ally was in, it changed to someone else after a second. So you're giving me a layout of how this ends, is that it? Just with the roles of these people not yet determined?"

" _Correct._ "

"But what about the stuff before this?" Peridot rightfully inquired. "Is it always one person who stays behind way longer than they should? Do they always fall before making it to the exit?"

" _Some details start to distort in certain places, but I'll tell you for certain that every time, the last person who goes through the tunnel will fall. It's never clear to me how it happens… whether it was an honest accident or if the remaining ally was hit with an attack from behind. The fall must be a poignant detail, just like the fact that the last one who stays behind ultimately will not make it."_

"Please, tell me I can do something to alter the course. If you're so sure this is what's coming for us downstairs, then I have the power to change it! I can make this whole thing null and void!" Peridot looked so desperate, yet tried to sound hopeful. "If this goes on as you see it, then… it's impossible to take everyone home! And I won't accept that!"

" _Peridot. You're a loving soul… I admire that so much. But I wouldn't be showing this to you if I thought it could be changed. I tried to will in an alteration myself, but this vision is a stubborn one."_ Sapphire genuinely sounded sad… borderline upset. _"I decided to share this vision with you because as the leader of the Crystal Gems, it should be your responsibility to determine who is the one left behind."_

"Are you nuts?! Just because I'm the leader of a team doesn't mean I have the right to decide someone's fate like that!" Peridot was hurt terribly, at the prospect of having to carry all this information into battle.

" _The only solace I can offer is that I can only go off of faint hints of feelings on the ship, depending who is there and who… isn't. And the one left behind, whoever that ends up being… this does not mean they are deceased. It seems inevitable that the remaining will suffer head trauma, perhaps even a concussion, but that couldn't be a cause of death."_ She really wanted to instill some kind of hope in Peridot, because she very strongly believed Peridot would let herself be the remaining; the one that won't be going home to Earth. Sapphire didn't want to see that at all; then again, she couldn't think of anyone else she could put in such a position. But it felt so wrong, enabling Peridot to sacrifice herself.

"So what? Maybe the remaining dies a few minutes later. Or maybe the _hoards of enemies_ right behind them will finish the idiot off!" Peridot growled. "What makes you think anyone who gets left behind here is going to stay alive long enough for anything else to matter?!"

" _Peridot. You know as well as I do, how irrational and illogical the Diamonds can be. I suspect the remaining will primarily be White Diamond's prisoner. Based on what little we know of her, I do fear for the remaining should they survive. But consider this, if you will. Assuming the remaining won't be Steven-"_

"It won't be Steven," Peridot said immediately. "I will _never_ allow it to be Steven."

" _Duly noted. Back to my point, Steven is the one White Diamond seeks. If Steven is not the remaining, it can be assumed he will mount a rescue much in the same way you did."_ Sapphire saw Peridot realize the ramifications of her own potential self-sacrifice. _"White Diamond would have the remaining as a bargaining chip, and I believe you know how Steven will handle something like that."_

Peridot crumbled, grasping at her hair. "That would take us right back to where we started!"

" _But this is purely hypothetical, unlike the vision I showed you. I'm so sorry, Peridot."_ Sapphire was struggling to remain calm and composed. _"I know you're going to volunteer yourself…"_

"When did I ever say I would be sacrificing myself?" Peridot asked Sapphire with a frown. "Of course I'm going to be the one who stays behind. It's my job to keep the Crystal Gems safe, so I _have_ to be the last one to leave. But I have no intention of sacrificing myself, Sapphire. I'm going to do everything in my power to make it to the ship. Your vision has so far shown me no reason to "sacrifice" anything. The ship left as intended, and everyone else seemed to get in just fine. So I refuse to call it a sacrifice based on what you've given me. Honestly, self-sacrifice is so glorified these days. Like people think it's noble to intentionally abandon the people who love them in the name of giving yourself up for some greater good. _Get out of here_ with that crap! If I end up never leaving here, it won't be for my lack of trying. I promise you that, Sapphire!"

A tear poured down Sapphire's face, but she was honestly smiling. _"That's the best thing I've heard in a long time, Peridot. I want to believe you'll succeed, even though fate does not favor you in the least. You do have a valid point; the vision doesn't depict anything that can be construed as a true sacrifice. But there are always going to be some blind spots in my visions; understand that. It's why I can't identify the cause of the remaining falling down in the first place."_

Peridot nodded. "I know that couldn't have been easy for you, Sapphire… thank you for telling me. So this very well may be the last conversation I ever have with you. And just as we were getting along so well…" Then something important came to mind. "Actually, Sapphire. Let's say for the sake of argument that I am the one left behind, and I'm either shattered or never rescued. I… I didn't think I'd be telling anyone about this before it happens, but… I may have prepared some messages for everybody meant to be sent automatically to everyone based on a coded variable. Basically, whether or not I'm present inside the ship by the time you all leave Homeworld's atmosphere. I was so sure I'd die at so many other points on this journey… the idea of it happening right at the very end of it all really pisses me off. S-so I prepared ahead of time, just in case of a worst-case scenario. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure everyone got their message. I have all the files saved on my tablet, and it's backed up. I made one for Garnet. I didn't know you or Ruby well enough to make one for you, sorry."

" _Having you here to talk to right now more than makes up for it,"_ Sapphire assured her _"But I feel it's time we returned back to the physical plane. There's already a battle beginning in the 2F5L Terminal. Your friends need you, Peridot. Be sure to take in those moments… just in case."_

"I-I will, I promise," Peridot agreed with a shaky nod. "Wait, am I seriously still under the table?!"

* * *

"Heheh. You are, indeed. Come on; wake up now."

That wasn't Sapphire's voice. The real Peridot woke up with a jolt, to indeed find herself still underneath the table, though she was without company in that cramped space now. Instead, Garnet was crouched over from the outside to peek into the space. And when Peridot woke up and found her back and neck in a terrible state of pain, Garnet was more than happy to help her out and pick her up to let her body stretch out as it _badly_ needed it.

"Sapphire apologizes; she should have chosen a better hiding place," Garnet apologized. "How are you holding up?"

"I-… ugh," Peridot grunted and wiped her eyes, surprised to see fresh tears smeared across her forearm. "How long have I been _crying?_ I don't think I cried even once in that… whatever place Sapphire took me!"

"You're not the only one," Garnet offered some sympathy and assurance, even letting Peridot see behind her shades. All three eyes were red and puffy from crying. "A lot of it was from Ruby, but you managed to get Sapphire to tear up as well."

Then Peridot realized the secret was no longer between her and Sapphire and she looked apprehensive. "Garnet, I… what did you think of the vision?"

"I appreciate your efforts in finding the holes in Sapphire's interpretation, Peridot," she said. "But that may not be enough to change the course of our path… regardless, I'm very proud of you. Very sad as well, but… Rest assured I will be taking care of your… messages. I'm very concerned about what White Diamond could to do you, should she keep you alive. She'll certainly try to make you like she has so many other gems now… pallid."

"She can try," Peridot snorted. "Sounds too boring, though. She can have all the mindless eyes she wants on Homeworld. You'd think if she valued me as a prisoner or some kind of bait for Steven, she'd put some more effort in trying to break me. Pallidification looks more and more like some crutch for insecure tyrants."

Garnet smiled. "You know there's a tough battle ahead of us, don't you?"

"Are you suggesting I'm just trying to act tough because there's a giant scary messy battle going on and it's _definitely_ not terrifying me? Because I swear it isn't!"

"Come, now. Let's see where this final battle takes us."

Of course, Ruby had been able to reach the others in time before they were consumed by a pallid wave, but all that did was cause an all-out brawl just upstairs from their getaway tunnel. The Crystal Gems were pushed back big time when the pallid Blue Diamond entered the fray, as no one could outdo or at least match a Diamond's power. When Yellow Diamond arrived, _everyone_ retreated to the downstairs while Ruby quietly snuck by to reunite with Sapphire.

When Garnet and Peridot stood at the metaphorical precipice of the battlefield up the staircase, it was already evident how brutal everything had gotten. Several gemstones, presumably having been poofed by their allies, were scattered across the ground. A disturbing detail to this, however, is that every single gemstone was monochromatic. So that told Peridot even poofing an infected gem wouldn't purge this disease.

"We should probably bubble these," Peridot suggested. "The last thing we need is a battle that never ends."

"They're still infected, you know," Garnet pointed out. "That… would not really make it any different from the corrupted gems we caught on Earth."

"Except the corrupted gems are just wild and rabid, no different from non-domesticated Earth organics. These gems had their entire minds and personalities purged by White Diamond, and we don't know for sure if that can ever be brought back," Peridot pointed out. "But if it's in stasis, I can't see White being able to use them as her accessories."

Garnet nodded. "I'll leave it to you to take care of that; I am more needed downstairs."

"Yeah, this is the most I'm gonna be good for in combat," Peridot muttered. "Oh, Garnet. One more thing."

Garnet paused and turned to her diminutive comrade.

Peridot held out her hand and produced her self-made bubble that contained Yellow Pearl. "I'd like you to tap this for me. I'm not sure where it'll end up if I do it, but this is a valuable commodity." She handed the bubble over to Garnet. "If you clods are really stupid enough to ever return to this planet again, I want you to have it. There won't be a single area you won't have clearance for as long as you have her as a key. If we leave her here, I probably _will_ end up shattered when she gets out… or she'll just end up as yet another pallid drone." She couldn't help but let out a cheeky smile. "And, uh. I admit, I kinda like the idea having her as a trophy at home. Not everybody gets to poof their manager, and it just _really_ feels good that I managed to steal an important asset of Yellow Diamond's."

Garnet gave Peridot an amused smile before she obliged the youth and tapped Yellow Pearl's bubble, sending it to the Burning Room on Earth. "Peridot, I know you will be able to contribute to this battle meaningfully, and I'm not referring to the end. Do what you do best; the team looks up to you for a reason."

With that, Garnet went downstairs to do her part in this massive battle, and Peridot went straight to work bubbling and sending off every pallid gemstone she could find.

* * *

It was a madhouse in Terminal 2F5L. The only positive to this is that, outside of the remaining pallids, there was no sign of White Diamond anywhere. The Crystal Gems prioritized thinning out the pallid numbers, since the last thing anyone needed was an infected ally. When pallid Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond attacked, everyone was forced to go on defense, which thankfully, Steven took care of masterfully. Being a Diamond himself meant he was the only one who stood a chance in matching their power, but so few of his maneuvers were offensive.

Bismuth was unquestionably the powerhouse, changing her extremities into the best weapon for dispatching certain enemies. She was the biggest part of the grunt clean-up duty.

What the Crystal Gems knew was that this was not a battle they needed to decisively win. Lapis and Bismuth pointed out the tunnel with the broken gate, so everyone knew where to escape and how. The goal here was to fend off the enemy enough to make for a clean getaway. No one had seen the PeriLuck at all, and its positioning insured that it wouldn't be spotted.

But they had to time this correctly: if the battle went on with members just running down the tunnel one at a time when one would assume they would stay behind and fight with their friends, the Diamonds would know something's amiss and possibly destroy their exit. Everyone needed to leave close to the same time, depending on how the battle fared for them.

Amethyst and Pearl also did an adequate job cleaning up the grunts. Connie, however, no longer had the sword she spent so much time honing her skills with, and this wasn't the kind of place one would just find a spare weapon lying around. She unfortunately became on par with Peridot in combat capability this time, but that didn't stop her from helping wherever necessary. She was agile enough to mislead pallids into an attack from another ally, or act as a distraction. She still kept a vigilant eye out for _anything_ she could use as a weapon.

Lapis did some grunt work, but her focus was squarely on the pallid Blue Diamond. She hoped in vain that Blue Diamond having her body hijacked would dull down her natural abilities, but she still came off on the losing end every time. She cursed her very limited usage of water; most of what Lapis brought along had been used up. It was beyond aggravating to know there were two water coolers filled with water very close by, but not close enough for her to reliably access them. She would have to pull off some complex manipulation skill to guide the water to her. The easier option, that being to go down the chute and take the water directly from the ship, but that held the heavy risk of their ship being discovered.

She would figure something out. Somehow.

Garnet finally made her way into the thick of things and noticed that Yellow Diamond, while still retaining her color and agency, surveyed the battle from a distance rather than help fight. Since the vision she had included White Diamond, Garnet figured she might be waiting for that particular back-up, or act once the pallids had been eliminated. That process accelerated quickly when Garnet contributed to it.

"Yellow Diamond, why are you doing this?!" Steven demanded to know once he noticed the Diamond's lack of participation. He continued to watch around from all angles to avoid a surprise attack, but he had his shield out now. It wasn't too hard to fend off some pallids, and Steven decided to use his newly-realized status as a Diamond (half-Diamond, but that's beside the point) to do his best to appeal to the biggest threats in the room. "How can you let this happen after you let White Diamond do this to Blue right in front of you?!"

"Mouthy as ever, aren't we, Pink?" Yellow Diamond sneered, very much not amused. "Blue was weak. All it took was for you to exploit her vulnerabilities and just like that, you turned her against her own family. You were always nothing but trouble, Pink, but dragging Blue down with you is _disgusting_ and you should acknowledge how far you've fallen."

"If this is the kind of life Mom had as Pink Diamond, it's no wonder she ran off and started a rebellion!" Steven countered. "Blue _told_ me, you know. She talked to me about how much "trouble" Pink caused for you three, and that's why you kept locking her in the tower! That's why you made her cry, and that's how you _gave her a reason_ to leave! No matter how many times she tried to stand up for herself, none of you respected her! She felt like a prisoner on Homeworld! Didn't you ever think even once how you'd feel if that was _you_ being treated this way?"

That irked Yellow terribly. She struggled to maintain her composure, but she was very clearly fuming at the way Steven told her off. "You wouldn't hear her out when you gave Pink Earth as a colony, remember?" Steven added. "When Pink learned the truth of what you guys really do to the planets you colonize. Why didn't you ever tell her that from the start?! Giving her the _Human Zoo_ was your one attempt to make peace with her, but you couldn't even get that right!" Steven effortlessly jabbed his spiked shield into an incoming pallid, poofing it, all the while he never broke sight from Yellow Diamond. "Pink treasured _all_ life, no matter how less-than-perfect it was. And that's one thing other than the gem that I know I inherited from her! If you seriously thought just sparing a few humans and animals out of the billions that live on Earth was enough for Pink, I don't know why you ever thought you were perfect in the first place, Yellow! A lot of living beings out there, way "beneath" you, could've told you that it would never work. And if they were here right now, they'd all point at you and say "Told you so!"…! So tell me, how are you perfect again?!"

A fist slammed into the terminal wall, startling everyone in the area at first, before they resumed their duties. "Pink… I order you to silence yourself… _immediately!_ "

Steven just stuck his tongue out at her. "Make me!"

Yellow swooped down to grab Steven and hold him up within the blink of an eye. She glared intently into his eyes. "Very well. I _order_ you to stop, Pink. And stop mocking me with that facial gesture! It was not humorous 7000 years ago, and it's still just as disrespectful today!"

"Wow, Mom actually made those faces at you?" Steven asked, a little bemused but now even more proud of himself. "Well, she gained some respect points in my book just for that. All I'm doing is what you're telling me to, y'know. I'm giving you the "respect" you _deserve."_

Yellow struggled; she still had the self-restraint to stop herself from squishing the half-organic in her hands, but Steven was hitting all of her trigger points this time. The day already had not been an easy one for her; she could only watch on when White Diamond beat down Blue savagely before she became little more than White's secondary vessel. Yellow was very conflicted on what to do; so much that she failed to acknowledge the escaping Crystal Gems whom she could have stopped herself. But once White gave Yellow that "Go ahead. Defy me. I _dare_ you." look, she shrank back and lost her resolve to fight. It killed her to see Blue the way she was now, but Yellow knew well that she would share the same fate if she dared to question anything. She really didn't want to be part of this battle, but Yellow had no power to go against White's order.

"You… _you_ are in for a world of trouble when White Diamond arrives," she growled at Steven. "And she will be here, in this very battlefield, very soon. Do you wish to share Blue's fate, Pink?!"

"Oh. My. _Stars._ Will you shut your voice-hole?"

That sounded like Peridot. But Steven couldn't see Peridot on level with him, of course, and she wasn't foolishly running up to Yellow Diamond like she did before. Steven managed to spot her, but kept a straight face so as not to give her away. He opted to distract the Diamond instead.

"So you really aren't family, are you?" Steven asked. "It sounds more like White's the head of everything, and everyone below her, even Diamonds, are just tools she uses to stay on top. How close am I?"

"You _ignorant little pebble!_ How dare you speak such sacrilegious insanity!" While Blue's emotional state was the way to exploit her weakness well enough to make her listen to lower beings, Yellow's temper seemed to be a counterpart of that. "Unlike Blue, I believe I'll find it a _great pleasure_ to watch White Diamond beat the will to live right out of you, so you may serve a greater purpose as her proxy! It will be poetic justice!"

"If being made pallid is _such_ an honor, why hasn't White Diamond turned you into part of the hive mind yet, Yellow?!" Suddenly, Peridot appeared in front of Yellow Diamond, only a couple of levels lower than the point where she held Steven.

In a split second, Yellow Diamond realized why Peridot was positioned as she was. She couldn't comprehend how Peridot thought she could do damage of any kind. Then just as she wondered how Peridot could meet her at this height without being attached to her body, she noticed the steel beam underneath her feet. And the steel beam was attached to nothing.

It was unthinkable; an Era 2 Peridot actually possessed some kind of power. It didn't make sense. No others of Peridot had kind ever achieved such a feat. And why, out of the millions of them, did it have to be _this_ Peridot who owned this strange power?

It was to Peridot's advantage that her statistical impossibility would scramble the so-called logical and rational-minded Yellow Diamond long enough to do what she came here for. She had one hand behind her back and at this moment drew out what she was hiding. It was a hammer. A very well-made and professional hammer. Steven watched with pure disbelief as he witnessed Peridot take advantage of that small opening her mere presence gave.

He watched her smash the hammer directly over the gem embedded in the middle of her bosom. Yellow Diamond's _diamond_.

A brief shattering was heard and Yellow Diamond howled out in agony. In just a few thrusts, Peridot's hammer was embedded within a newly-made recess in her weak point; her lifeline. Bits of diamond dust and pieces flew out and fell to the floor below. Although Peridot severely lacked the physical strength to make a dent like this on her own, the metal part of the hammer could be manipulated into hitting the target much, much harder, so much that it felt more like Bismuth jabbed a hammer in her rather than Peridot. Those weak thrusts that would have thwacked off the diamond under normal circumstances became concentrated, penetrative pressure point attacks. The hard part of this was yanking the hammer back out.

"That's for touching _my_ center of gravity," Peridot finally said loud enough for Yellow Diamond to hear. "I guess the other hits are for talking down to him, and for the grief you put me through. Something like that. Oh, and start scouting for a new Yellow Pearl. I kinda made off with yours. _That will be all, Yellow Clod!_ "

Yellow's grip on Steven loosened, predictably, but Peridot was quick to surf in on her steel beam to catch the one who meant everything to her.

"P-Peridot, you really didn't just-"

"She's not shattered, Steven," Peridot sighed out. The little gem was prepared to explain this to Steven; it was not hard to predict he'd want to be sure about what she did. "Just cracked. And probably not enough to do any lasting damage, but it _should_ stun her for the rest of the fight."

"But… but how did you know to…?"

"Have you ever noticed how Diamonds go on and on about how hard they are. Like, "ooh, we're the hardest substance in the universe so we can break everything!" and all that?" Peridot asked him.

"I think I might have heard it once or twice," Steven said in jest. Because yes, he was all too aware how Diamonds praised their hardness.

"Yeah, well, they're also _sooooo_ brittle; that's the part they'll never tell you about," Peridot said with a wink. "And it's something I picked up in your Earth literature about geology. All you really need is a strong material, like most types of metal, and a _lot_ of force. So, good thing I can manipulate metal. And being in close range meant I didn't have to even exert myself that much! Aren't I just brilliant?!"

Steven laughed. "You sure are, Peridot. You scared me a second there, but you're amazing. That was so risky, getting that close to her."

"Your are, without a doubt, worth any risk," Peridot said with a calm, yet confident air. "As much as I'd love to just spend the night air-surfing with you, I think we've got friends who need some help."

That brought down Steven's mood, but he understood. "Yeah. Some of them are on their own right now; they'll need defense."

"And I see one in dire need for a means of offense," Peridot added. "We'll meet up in the PeriLuck soon enough. Lapis and Bismuth told you all how our escape route works, right?"

"Yep! Can't wait to do the tube ride. Oh, and they told me what the PeriLuck name stands for. I like it." Now the pair had descended very close to the floor, where Peridot would drop off her partner.

"See you then, Steven." Just as Peridot was about to take off, though…

"Hey, Peridot?"

"Yes…?"

Peridot turned around just in time to get pulled into an embrace. It was an odd, yet familiar kind of embrace. Steven set one leg on the floating beam so he could hold the gem even closer to him. His face came up by the side of Peridot's, but nothing happened.

"Erm… any last words, Steven?"

"I love you, Peridot." Steven nearly squished her with his hug, and Peridot could instantly see the two of them stuck together in that drill, several miles underground at the Earth's core, both preparing to lose their lives to the Cluster and spend their last moments together. It was only now that Peridot realized this was a callback; she unintentionally recited that paraphrased line before Steven professed his love. And Peridot grew all the warmer inside, feeling a great surge of happiness, power… all of the positives in her life enhanced greatly. It was upgraded then to a brief, but passionate kiss.

" _W-wow,"_ Peridot replied breathlessly, feeling the comforting warmth spread all around. "Thanks…"

And with that, Steven took off. Peridot watched him, enraptured before she suddenly thought to yell out as he ran: " **HEY!** HEY, STEVEN! I RECIPROCATE YOUR SENTIMENTS!"

He looked back as he ran and smiled at Peridot. And that's all she needed. Peridot had her strength and energy fully renewed, and she could focus on neutralizing as many enemies as possible before trying with all her might to change the intended course of history.

Now, Peridot soon found herself with a typical leadership dilemma: who to help next, and how.

Amethyst and Pearl had been doing very well, especially since they fused into Opal and were quickly diminishing the population of pallids in this terminal with their combined power. They were doing just fine.

Peridot then looked to the other scenarios, and suddenly the early visuals of that grainy, smudged-up premonition came to mind. This was roughly the layout for what Sapphire predicted.

Lapis was still hellbent on combating the pallid Blue Diamond, though she wasn't making much progress and she was losing water fast. Bismuth had arrived to assist, but again… this was a Diamond. And possibly a worse case, since it was really White Diamond in there. But Peridot knew she wouldn't get a lucky shot like she did on Yellow twice in the same night. A quick glance at Yellow Diamond showed the once mighty Diamond on her knees, her head bowed down into the floor. Her form flickered, indicating the crack Peridot's hammer made was enough to fully pacify her.

It almost felt like she was concluding a part of her life, just in time before it ends.

Peridot turned around to see the action going on behind her: Garnet was cleaning house with the pallids, as was expected. Connie, on the other hand… Peridot felt an odd kinship towards all of a sudden.

She was the only full human of the Crystal Gems, and still very small, as she hadn't yet hit her growth spurt. Next to Garnet, she seemed puny.

Connie's specialty was the art of the sword, taught by Pearl, and wielded the legendary Rose Quartz sword. Until Blue Diamond shattered it during their invasion on Earth. Now she was left with nothing to attack with. Though Connie possessed great athletic skill for her age, and was very agile, she could only help by putting herself at risk. That was something Garnet did not approve of, and tried to discourage, but her hands were too full to actually enforce that sentiment. Connie didn't care; she couldn't bear to just stand by and watch as her friends fought for their lives.

Peridot was basically looking at herself trying to help Garnet. The similarities were uncanny. It never seemed apparent when Connie was armed, but now that she only had what she was born with to make use of, it was blindingly obvious. Peridot couldn't help herself; she really liked Connie, though she had no idea if she was stealing Steven away from her or not. Then again, if future events went as planned… Connie could be there in her place, and that's what Peridot would want. She never liked to assume these things, like two people spending a lot of time together _must_ be love. Peridot just took it for what it was.

She looked at the hammer in her hand, then heard a cry as Connie accidentally mistimed her movements and fell down flat on her face. Not a good time to notice this, but it was yet another way Peridot saw herself in Connie. Garnet was too tied up to aid the girl, and with the glint of her hammer catching Peridot's eye, she knew what must be done. She used her steel beam to rush over to the scene as quick as she could, and just before a pallid got to Connie, it was violently shoved away and consequently poofed as Peridot rammed into it. She _did_ forget to take physics into account for his decision, as she hadn't mastered her balancing nor her powers well enough to keep herself from being flung off the beam, which fell to the floor seconds later.

"Peridot! Are you okay?!"

Luckily, Peridot wasn't thrown _too_ far away. She did not enjoy that landing, though. She rubbed the back of her head, then saw Connie approaching her. "H-hah, just fine. Just forgot my feet weren't strapped into the beam, whoops…"

"You saved me," Connie said, so very thankfully. She extended a hand to help Peridot up, which she accepted. "Thank you so much. Awesome timing."

Peridot nodded before presenting her hammer. "When you're unarmed, I'm just seeing me out there and I won't stand for it. So, here. It's no Rose Quartz sword, but if you attack using the back end, you can maybe use it like a reverse glaive…?" She was uncertain on that last part since swords were not Peridot's area of expertise and not a subject she learned much about independently. She had TV to thank for even knowing there were different kinds of antiquated weaponry.

"Are you sure?" Connie asked. "What about you, I mean… where did you even get this?" This did not look like an Earth hammer at all.

"I was bubbling all the poofed pallids upstairs before I arrived here," Peridot smugly explained. "You wouldn't _believe_ the kinds of junk the gems had in their possession before getting… well, possessed."

"So we've got a stash of junk if we need it; good to know," Connie acknowledged. "I'll do you proud with this, Peridot. I'm just glad I can actually contribute."

It felt weird having Connie look up to her like this, and talk to her as if they weren't equals. Peridot kept forgetting she's a leader now; of course her team probably wracked their brains trying to figure out how to be subservient to Peridot, of all possible choices to become leaders.

"It's a nice feeling, isn't it?" Peridot could totally relate, and at this point Connie realized why it seemed Peridot understood her so perfectly. "Knock some heads around and give Garnet a little breathing room. Once we've got every area of this terminal under control, we're getting out of here. So don't go _too_ crazy, okay?"

Connie saluted to her. "I'll bash my enemies' heads in responsibly!" She then ran off to do just that, and it was a joy seeing Connie finally able to take out these threats to their mission and their lives.

Garnet was proud of both of them, but quickly felt a bolt of a very clear and swiftly forthcoming vision that wiped the smile off her face. "PERIDOT! Hurry over and help the others!" She gestured over to the Blue Diamond fight, where Opal also joined after clearing out her end of the pallids. Steven was also there, deflecting Blue Diamond's blasts as best he could. There seemed to be at least a decent chance of the Crystal Gems coming out on top here, if Peridot could take out Yellow Diamond by herself. Then again, Blue Diamond was pallid now, and no longer herself. She was the ultimate vessel of White Diamond. And based on what Peridot could recall of Sapphire's vision, it wasn't until a "proper" vision of White Diamond appeared on the battlefield that Blue was thoroughly taken out, and it looked like Yellow was next. She was struggling to stand on her feet again, but her flickering form prevented Yellow from being able to anything except try to survive.

But if Garnet was that adamant about joining the fight, Peridot would oblige. She at least owed Garnet her full respect and compliance for usurping her from her position. She sped over towards the battle, noticing there were far more gemstones about than active pallid gems. There were way too many to bubble right now, but Peridot assumed they wouldn't be in this terminal much longer to have to worry about them reforming.

"I swear, I won't rest until I see you in pieces," Lapis growled, still high in the air and had gotten to the point where she was so desperate for water, she started swiping molecules from the air to draw the water out. The problem is, this took a long time and didn't yield much to work with. But Lapis was resolute, and had been going every possible route of how to do more with less water. "You're not getting away with stealing all of these gems' bodies!"

Pallid Blue smiled at Lapis. "You have been coming at me from the very beginning, Lapis Lazuli." She could easily hold a conversation while fending off at least four other combatants. "Does it really upset you this much, knowing I'm parading around in Blue Diamond's form? She is no more, you know. I consumed her, dear. I consumed _all_ of these gems… a fate worse than shattering, wouldn't you agree?" She chuckled, watching Lapis shake with rage.

"You think I don't know what purgatory is like?" Lapis asked; her tone deadly ferocious. "I've lived it. I've survived it. Then I've been tossed around both sides of this war. And I survived that, too!"

Lower down, as Peridot arrived on the scene, the problem was very apparent.

"I don't get it; why can't we damage her from down here? It's like she'd got an invincible shield for her feet and legs!" Steven complained.

"It's not much better on higher levels," Opal told him. "Every time I get to a certain height, she keeps deflecting my attacks and smacks me away! All while she's taunting Lapis!"

"Who really should be comin' down here so she can have somebody up there doin' the damage," Bismuth grumbled.

"Hey, remember this isn't exactly Blue Diamond we're dealing with here," Peridot announced as she floated close to her teammates. "This is White we're dealing with, just in Blue's body. As you can plainly tell, her powers and abilities can transfer to her proxies, so I think we need to regroup and think of another spot to focus on."

"Peridot!" Steven called out like he hadn't seen her in years. "Great, you can take one of us up there to help Lapis out."

"And do what, win a debate?" Peridot snapped back, then restrained herself. "S-sorry, that was mean. Since I got here, Lapis has been in that same spot, trying attack after attack and Blue-White-whatever, she's just flicking them away like they're nothing. And this is _Lapis_ we're talking about. If she can fend off Opal too, we're going to need a more coordinated approach."

"I agree," Opal said. "I'm thinking another angle to attack from, such as behind. She shouldn't be able to see me; we've neutralized almost all of the pallids by now."

"Good plan," Peridot agreed. "Large opponents are optimally taken down by attacking the knee or ankle, but if we can't even penetrate that part, we need to get more creative and think of other possible weak points. Do any of you have suggestions?"

"Hm, back of the head would be one that makes sense, but good luck to anyone making it that far up her body," Bismuth suggested.

"The small of her back would be my guess," Opal supplied. "But how can we get through that rope to hit the spot precisely?"

"Umm… her butt?"

Steven was surrounded by three very unamused gems all of a sudden. "S-sorry, sorry! I swear I'm taking this seriously, but I can't think of a spot in the back that would be a weak spot."

"Just make sure we're well defended, Steven," Opal advised. "You're the only one who can actually deflect her attacks." She turned to her leader. "Did you have a spot in mind, Peridot?"

"The nape of her neck," Peridot answered. "Which we will have problems pinpointing thanks to her hair. All of these suggestions are hampered with interference factors that won't be easy to get around. So we all either vote on one spot, or we go to our own suggested spots at the same time and hit them simultaneously. It is possible she has more than one."

"We can't try both?" Bismuth asked.

"We could in theory; we'll just lose our element of surprise if we attempt this a second time. So with that in mind, I'm thinking we go with hitting all the suggested spots. We'll find out quickly that way where to direct our attacks on our next attempt," Peridot deduced. "So long as Lapis keeps talking to her, I think she just knows we're here and doesn't care. So if she doesn't see us, she'll probably think we left."

"So we've got some climbing to do," Opal understood. "I'm on it. I'll give you a signal when I find what I'm looking for."

"Bismuth, I think you'd appreciate a ride up," Peridot offered. "Your spot is close to mine, anyway."

"I wish I could help more," Steven grumbled.

"You're helping me already, Steven," Peridot assured him. "Just by being here, you're doing a lot more for me than you realize."

Steven smiled, but he didn't get it. "I'll bubble you guys if it gets too dangerous up there, okay? This is a bad time to get poofed…"

Meanwhile, _much_ higher up, Lapis was preparing the best she had with what she had left. Absolutely nothing had worked on this monster, and it had long since exhausted Lapis. Yet, she continued to stay airborne at the same level she had been when she first approached this mockery of Blue Diamond.

"Unlike me, I bet you've never even _known_ pain," Lapis declared. "Nor felt it. I can't believe the progenitor of gemkind is you! I refuse to believe it!" Her pouch was empty now, and she had gotten as much liquid from the air that she reasonably could. Water spiraled around her arm, and the streams became thicker on the level of her hand, which was now submerged in her creation. It resembled a wrist-mounted weapon, but the weapon was a steadily growing vortex of water. Lapis kept her left arm lowered, but she was charging something within her hand.

"As much as I've enjoyed shattering your perception of everything and making you question all that you know, I believe it's time we stopped playing, Lapis Lazuli," pallid Blue said, sounding relaxed. "I'm quite certain I've told you already I can destabilize you with one touch of my finger, no matter how powerful your attacks are."

"And I think you're bluffing, because you should have done that to me a while ago if you meant it!" Lapis countered. "Maybe a little bit of the real Blue Diamond is still in there after all, and you just don't want to admit it!"

Pallid Blue's facial features firmed into a bored, unimpressed stare. "Lapis Lazuli, that will be all."

Her right arm rose up, her hand rose in a pointing position already. Lapis unleashed her attack with all her fury and it was her most chaotic and torrential maneuver yet. Had Lapis known what kind of attack she was in for, she probably would have been level-headed enough to tone down her rage and maintain her distance. But in her unbridled wrath, Lapis forgot the worst possible kind of attack a Diamond could inflict on her.

Electricity.

She was connected to her own attack, and she was already too close to get out of the way. One touch of the water with a single jolt of lightning was enough to completely tear apart the gem's attack while Lapis was trapped in sheer torturous electrocution. Her nearby teammates looked on in shock, having to cover their mouths to mute their screams so as not to give away their position. But their tears flowed freely.

In a puff of smoke, Lapis Lazuli was reduced her base gemstone form and plummeted a great distance before Steven, who was still on the floor in the vicinity, rushed over in a panic and just in time bubbled the gemstone while catching it before it hit the floor. Steven was in tears as well. Things were going relatively okay; he didn't think anyone else was in danger of being poofed. Now one had fallen.

"How could you?!"

Pallid Blue's eyes lit up as she turned her attention to Steven, with legitimate joy and madness. "Oh, Starlight. Did I take out one of your little friends? I did warn you about associating with the lower gems; so many of them are vile and dangerous, just like that rabid Lapis Lazuli. Please understand that I did you a favor. Now, come along."

"NO!" Steven was adamant. He held the bubbled Lapis close to his chest and promptly formed a bubble around himself, coated in spikes. "Don't forget, I can send your attacks right back at you. And if you touch me, you're gonna regret it."

Bismuth was in position, emboldened by the loss of Lapis with her hand morphing into a hammer. A short distance below, Peridot was on Blue's shoulder, right next to her neck and under her hair. She was armed with a nondescript piece of scrap she came across on the way to this particular fight, which she morphed one side to have a very sharp point. She used it to cut some bits of hair, because it was very much in her way, but now she had found her target and was ready to strike. Opal used her arrows to discreetly cut her way through Blue's robe, and with a gem light to guide her, she found her spot as well. She could clearly hear everything despite being so layered underneath.

Instinctively, all three reared up to strike their spots as they felt the pallid Blue lurch down, presumably to get closer to Steven. That was unacceptable. During her descent, she let out a painfully high-pitched scream as Opal, Peridot, and Bismuth jammed their weapons against the presumed weak spots. She shot up and arched her back in a very swift motion that easily threw Bismuth off her head, sending her careening for a very long and dangerous drop. Peridot was also knocked off her post, but she and the steel beam she rode in with got caught up in Blue's tangled hair. Opal was much further down and could maneuver her fall since she had plenty of fabric to grab, but when she saw Bismuth about to crash and poof, she rushed out as fast as her legs could carry her. Thankfully she was a fusion that emphasized agility and speed, and within the last few seconds, she snatched a terrified Bismuth, who was sure that would have been the point where she poofed.

The pallid Blue spun around and saw the gem and the fusion on the floor; obviously the culprits to the multiple sharp stings across her body and head. **"YOU."**

The face on pallid Blue was an expression no one ever would have imagined she would ever make. A glare full of crazed, murderous intent, but a coldness to it that suggested she was not going to let the perpetrators leave with their lives tonight because of this. Then again, it wasn't _really_ Blue, but it was still Blue's face in the end.

Bismuth calmed down from her near-hyperventilating after coming so close to hitting the ground during that giant fall. She looked to Opal, who still held her. "We… didn't think to plan about how to escape when she finds out we did that, did we?"

"Unfortunately not," Opal said, worry very clear in her eyes. "Bismuth… hold on tight."

Pallid Blue assaulted them with waves of crackling electricity. Just one small charge was enough to poof Lapis; a barrage of this would shatter gems easily on contact. Opal kept that in mind as she carried Bismuth and dodged the bolts like her life depended on it. They made it out unscathed, though a ball of white energy soon crashed on top of them both, as pallid Blue was in no mood to chase around some rodents. With no time to react to the surprise follow-up attack, Opal held tightly on to Bismuth as both were blasted by the impact and smashed hard against the windows before falling to the ground. Steven rushed over, pushing the ball he was in along to tend to his friends. Luckily, no one else had been poofed. Unfortunately, having taken the brunt of the damage meant Opal's fusion could not hold, and she vanished leaving a very out-of-it Pearl and Amethyst lying in a heap next to Bismuth.

During all this, Peridot was still a prisoner in Blue's hair. After hearing how soul-shatteringly angry she was about getting stabbed and hit the way she'd been, Peridot was not at all inclined to let the Diamond know where she was. All the same, she wasn't keen on having to remain trapped in hair, of all things. She tried to force her way out, but for someone like Peridot, that would never be a solution for anything. She tried to reach her other limbs, as all four were inconveniently spread out. The steel beam was tangled up as well, but too far away from Peridot to make any use of. Even if she could use her powers to bring the beam over, it was too blunt to cut hair and pulling too hard would give away her position.

Nearing despair, she came up with an idea. The beam wouldn't be useful for freeing her, but the sharp scrap piece still lodged in the nape of pallid Blue's neck would be perfect. She wouldn't even need to hold it with her hands to free herself. Although there was a risk in that the Diamond would definitely feel the stab in her neck as the scrap was pulled out, and she'd end up in her unforgiving hands very quickly.

"Are you guys gonna be okay?!"

Peridot faintly heard that; it was Steven's voice.

"I think we'll live to fight another day, Steven…" That was clearly Pearl.

"Wait a minute, where did P-Dot go?" Definitely Amethyst. "I didn't see her anywhere when we caught Bismuth, Pearl!"

Now that was a problem. They were unintentionally putting her in danger by acknowledging her absence.

"Neither did I," Pearl admitted. "And usually it's near-impossible to overlook someone like her. Is it possible she never-" she clammed up at that minute. And Peridot was very thankful for that. Opal defusing was a blessing in disguise; pallid Blue knew she had been stabbed in 3 separate parts of her body, and now that Opal was no more, the Diamond found 3 culprits not yet knowing there was a fourth.

Steven wasn't as quick to catch on. "Wh-what do you mean you didn't see her?! She was with-" The sudden cutting off of Steven's voice meant he did eventually catch on, or more likely, someone covered his mouth for him.

She saw no other way out of this; Peridot's hands had some range of how much they could move around, so she was able to see the scrap part very slowly emerge from Blue's neck; it was lodged in there tightly.

Peridot did her best to take a slower approach in willing the scrap out of the Diamond's nape, but it was easier said than done. She was also certain there wasn't much time left to be thorough about a methodical approach.

" _Pink!_ Remove yourself from these reprehensible minerals at once!" Pallid Blue screamed out. "I've toyed with the lot of you enough! Now accept your fate!"

That was a signal for Peridot to hurry along, and her extraction process sped up significantly. It was even making the wound worse as the shard had to morph around and push away any form of matter to return to its master's hands. Pallid Blue jerked her head back and cried out again, but with Peridot securely tied in the hair, her position only minimally changed. She knew a hand would come her way very soon, so Peridot finished the extraction of the scrap, which left a bigger incision and cracking around the sides. There was no time to focus on that, though. The scrap floated over to cut Peridot's right hand free, then in swift fashion her legs became untangled as well.

Peridot snagged the scrap and freed her left arm manually. Rustling in the hair behind Peridot presented a warning, so Peridot hopped down and sliced the hair binding her steel beam as she started her descent. This was a pretty dangerous situation, as Peridot had rush her exit so much that she didn't have time to consider how she would reach the floor again. Literally a second later, a hand pushed through to grasp the wound on the neck while Peridot, in a panic, tried to pull her beam over with her powers. The best she got was lining it up vertically below her, which ended with her falling flat on her torso against the beam… that was not a comfortable landing. Peridot just clung to her beam for the duration, but looked up behind her to see the various locks of hair she cut out fall alongside her, and pallid Blue looking like she had just been stabbed. It looked like that was a weak point after all.

"THAT'S FOR LAPIS, CLOD DIAMOND!"

The Crystal Gems below were beyond relieved to see her safe and sound and all have her a hug once she floated to their level.

"I think you got her, Peridot! That's the first time we've really seen her suffer like this," Pearl said excitedly. It seemed odd to hear Pearl giving praise like this, but Peridot didn't complain.

"Yeah, we've got her on the ropes now!" Amethyst cheered. "We're getting out of here _and_ we got to whoop the Diamonds' butts! Ahh, so this is what accomplishment feels like, huh."

"You're getting ahead of yourself," Peridot criticized. "Look, she's been hit in a critical spot, but she hasn't even hit the floor yet. Even Yellow's gotten that far down." She gestured to the still-kneeling Yellow Diamond, who screamed for "Blue", but even her voice sounded distorted at this point. She had next to no strength.

"What we need to do from here is regroup with Garnet and Connie and get out of here, because White Diamond herself is on her way as we speak," Peridot said. "It looks like the pallids are all taken care of, so we have an opening! Let's move!"

The others nodded while Steven deactivated his shield. Garnet and Connie were seen in the distance, and it appeared from the staircase that an ominous white light shined down, gradually growing brighter. It appeared that Garnet gave Connie the same instructions as Peridot.

The shining light was like a ticking time bomb. Peridot knew the climax of what Sapphire had shown her was on the horizon. The two groups merged and everyone made a beeline to the broken gate.

"It's almost time, right?" Peridot quietly asked Garnet as they dashed. Garnet simply nodded to her.

"But Lapis being poofed didn't happen that time; I mean there was no proof it did," Peridot informed the fusion. "Doesn't that mean there's still some room to optimize the result?"

"Maybe," was Garnet's curt reply. "Or it could have been another blind spot. Peridot, make sure to play it smart for the upcoming phase; White Diamond could be just as inattentive as her proxy."

Peridot thought about it, then winked at Garnet. "Gotcha."

Just as Pallid Blue started to stabilize herself, a giant, fierce white beam of light shot across the terminal. The Crystal Gems continued to run as they noticed it, but stopped when they saw what happened behind them. The beam shot clean through pallid Blue, impaling her and irreparably destabilizing her in the process. She collapsed to the floor with a lifeless thud; the impact almost earthquake-like as the Crystal Gems struggled to maintain their footing. It was a good thing they decided to stop running at that moment.

" _ **BLUE!"**_ That was Yellow Diamond, reaching out helplessly as the shell of her former partner struggled in her final moments. Surprisingly, Yellow willed herself to stand at last and stagger over to her fellow Diamond. Just as she made it to pallid Blue, everything came to a halt.

Bright, blinding white lights suddenly lit up the deactivated screens across the terminal; all bearing an extreme close-up of White Diamond's face. At the staircase, it was nearly impossible to see – it was an extreme version of looking at the sun for too long. The screens emitted energy towards the staircase while the thuds of giant steps were heard by the others. The Crystal Gems were not in a good position to hide, but there wasn't really any place _to_ hide here. They all remained silent and still as the intense light toned down to the point where everyone could see who just descended the staircase: White Diamond. Her form was massive, unlike anything or anyone the Crystal Gems had ever seen, save for Steven.

Yellow turned her head, and in a very rare instance, looked absolutely terrified. "Wh-White Diamond… you… you left the ship?"

"Somewhat, but not entirely," White replied. Luckily for the team, White Diamond's focus seemed to be squarely on Yellow and no one else. "When you meld so many pallids together, it makes for a nice makeshift form, so I no longer have to disgrace myself by adorning anything worn by that weakling, Blue."

"You… you'll save her, won't you?" Yellow asked, sounding so pitiful as she begged. Peridot didn't know how to even comment on this. "Blue, she's… so badly hurt…"

"And already mine," White corrected. "This vessel you're protecting is meaningless. The most of Blue anyone's seen out of this proxy is the pain she felt, as I feel her agony within me as we speak. Our opponents are quite the vicious little brutes." On that note, she looked towards the Crystal Gems, making sure they knew she knew they were there. "Starlight, please be patient. I have some unfinished business to conclude. You and I will chat very soon."

No one dared to say a word, but no one had any inclination to "be patient". Their gate wasn't far away. But now that White was here, the group understood they needed to go all at once when the time was right.

"What I am horrified to see is that your diamond has been cracked, Yellow," White Diamond said sternly. "You're quite lucky it was just a weakling who did this to you, or we might not even be having this conversation."

"S-so why won't you help me fix it? I have been _loyal_ to you, White!" Yellow cried out in despair. "I wanted so badly to stop you from doing what you did to Blue, but I didn't!"

"Yes, but I suspect that was more out of fear than your earnest respect," White countered. "Am I wrong?"

Yellow was beside herself; she knew well it was fear that held her back. "What you did was unprecedented! Abnormal! I had no idea what to make of you!"

"And that only happened because Blue committed unprecedented acts of treason," White said, as if to justify the many horrible things she did to Blue Diamond. "She should be honored to be among my pallid elites, but now look at her. Absolute trash; totaled. Nothing will save her now, besides assimilation."

"Y-you're out of your mind! The Diamond Authority will shatter if you rid Blue from existence!" Yellow tried so hard to justify saving Blue, though she knew there was no Blue to save.

"And _you_ are out of line," White warned Yellow with a hiss. "You are no better. A cracked diamond; you can barely stand, and you've been nothing but dead weight this time around. I thought it to be a waste of time to even pallidify you, Yellow. But your incompetence compels me to grant you mercy as I did for Blue."

"NO!" Yellow fell to her knees, grasping her head. _"I beg of you!"_

Peridot could tell the scene she witnessed in the vision was soon to happen; that meant it was time to finally retreat. "It's time for the Crystal Gems to make our move and take this chance," she whispered to everyone. "Be as quiet as you can; we're not gonna get another opportunity like this. Whoever takes the lead needs to carry Lapis too; I wanna make sure she doesn't get dropped and abandoned here."

It was silently decided that Connie would take Lapis; even being granted the hammer and managing to take out a good number of pallids wasn't enough to make her feel like she pulled her weight for this mission.

"I'll bring up the rear," Peridot volunteered; it felt so unnecessary given what was soon to happen, but she had to make sure no one else tried to stay behind longer than her. "There are security doors in that tunnel spaced out every few meters; I know I can use my power to bring them down without the access codes. Just in case we're actually caught."

Everyone nodded; the scene displayed before them and White Diamond's appearance in general shook up everyone so much, they didn't want to argue or suggest other tactics. The first out that was made available to them, they would happily jump on. "Want me to stay close by?" Garnet privately offered.

"Please," Peridot agreed, After running her hand lovingly over her tablet that Steven gave her, she unstrapped it from her arm and offered it to Garnet. "Take care of it for me, won't you?"

Garnet accepted the offering and gave a thumbs-up. "It's time."

One last glance aside offered a terrifying scene.

"If you truly believe you are still of any worth to me as you are now, Yellow, prove it. See if you can stand up for me once more," White said, issuing a challenge… or an ultimatum.

Yellow silently accepted as she grunted, struggling with all of her might to stand. The horror of Blue's tragedy jumpstarted her body just for a moment, but she was worn down again. Her upper body felt so heavy, and her legs couldn't stop shaking. But with the threat of her own sentience being on the line, Yellow Diamond eventually went all out with what little energy she had left, and successfully made it back onto her feet. The legs were wonky and were far apart enough to make her body want to sink again, but she did it. She looked to White Diamond, shaking with fear but prideful of her success. "Hah-! _Ahahaha!_ I did it! You thought I couldn't… I proved you wrong!"

White Diamond was not impressed as she held her hand up towards the faltering Yellow.

"Since when have I ever told you to stand like that, Yellow? That posture is _terrible. Inexcusable._ You are a Diamond, are you not? What would other gems think of their Diamond if they saw you now?"

"B-but I stood up; I did as you asked!"

"That is _not_ standing," White Diamond declared. "That is the stance of a lowlife who has no place on Homeworld; only within me will you be of use."

"BUT I STOOD!"

Those were Yellow Diamond's last words. No one wanted to see what followed a brutal laser blast and some unearthly sound no one could identify. The Crystal Gems made a mad dash for the gate, and praise be to the heavens – they finally made it.

"Hurry along, everyone!" Peridot commanded. "Make a run for the chute and don't look back!"

With Connie in the lead holding the Lapis bubble, everyone rushed out of the gate in a single file behind her.

"This—this is too much," Steven despaired, agonizing over the mess with the Diamonds. "They're taking out their own, and that isn't—"

" **STEVEN!** Move! Now!" Peridot hissed at Steven, which shook him out of his stupor. He nodded to Peridot and started to run. He remembered something Peridot had told him recently: _"Always keep moving."_ … he needed to start making good on that.

Ideally, Peridot wanted Steven further up the line to minimize his chances of seeing her fail in her own mission. With Blue and Yellow dispatched, and no pallid gems remained beyond their tainted gemstones, Peridot could only conclude that her possible fall would be due to an attack from White Diamond, or an unavoidable accident. But the hall to the chute was clear, and Peridot knew she could buy herself some time with the security doors if White was chasing her. There was really nothing Peridot saw that she could damage her head during a fall with; whatever she collided with in the vision was unclear.

Connie made it to the chute. It opened, and she held on tight to Lapis as she jumped down cannonball-style. 2 out of 8 Crystal Gems made it to safety. Peridot and Garnet had no idea what White Diamond was doing, but based on the unidentifiable cacophony blaring on in the background, it couldn't be anything good. Most likely, she was in the process of devouring the two Diamonds.

Pearl was next. She looked apprehensive of the escape route, but what other choice did she have? She kneeled, splayed her arms on both sides, and slid into the chute. That made 3.

Bismuth wasn't far behind, and if she hadn't worked on this chute with Lapis and Peridot herself, she would have serious doubts about fitting into the escape route. But they did a test just before embarking on the journey this morning. Seeing it was well into nighttime, Bismuth could hardly believe this nearly took an entire day. And if they counted the ship ride to Homeworld, it probably was a full 24 hours since. Since she had been through the chute, she knew what to expect on the other side. Bismuth held her hands over her gemstone, not wanting to risk chipping or cracking it on the way into the PeriLuck. She jumped in, and looked so relieved to have made it. That was half of the team safe and sound, now.

Another odd sound was going on, and a blinding light filled the terminal. Peridot stopped for a short moment (knowing full well running and not looking where she was going would cause her to trip; it always did) and held out her hands to the front door of the gate. It was easy to shut, but loud. But now blinding light wouldn't fill up the tunnel… at least for now. She had a feeling it was time to start adding layers of security while she still could; White wasn't on the pursuit yet; most likely this was a side effect of her fully consuming two Diamonds. Peridot just hoped White hadn't heard the door slam.

With a flick of her wrist, Peridot activated the inner doors to close on a timer. The first one, primarily made of glass, and far away from the gem, went down immediately. Every minute, the next door in the sequence would follow suit, and this would go on up until the final door just a meter away from the chute. It seemed like tight timing, but Peridot and her friends were already more than halfway through the tunnel. She resumed running and picked up her pace; she had fallen a bit more behind than Garnet than she cared for. Peridot was never much of a marathon runner with her tiny legs, but she willed herself to push her limits. Seeing Steven not too far ahead of Garnet helped Peridot maintain her pace.

Meanwhile, Amethyst had reached the chute. She had just enough time to be silly about her exit, and after all this drama, she desperately needed it. She bent over and giggled, then fell backwards. She was almost assuredly the only Crystal Gem who would be entering the ship butt-first. 5 Crystal Gems made it to home base.

That left only Steven, Garnet, and Peridot to wait on. Steven wasn't much of a runner himself, and Garnet refused to outpace him. If need be the case, she would grab him and sprint at her usual fast pace, but she didn't want to leave Peridot in the dust, and she knew Steven would demand they go back for her. She already had the tablet in one arm as it was.

Not even Peridot's willpower could make her little legs go much faster than she already was. And at that point Peridot wanted to smack herself because she realized just then she could have been air surfing with that steel beam or some other piece of metal instead this whole time. And it was far too late now to rectify that. However, the end was in sight. A loud bang was heard just then; that was probably White destroying the front door on her way to destroying all others in her way. The light wasn't to blinding levels any longer, but Peridot dared to look back and saw nothing but the creepiest face ever in black over the white light. That actually made her go a good deal faster, but she still lagged behind Steven and Garnet a far-from-optimal distance. To make matters worse, the timed doors were catching up on her. Steven was holding to his promise to keep moving, and minded Peridot's advice to not look back, thankfully, or he'd be freaking out right now. Garnet grimaced as she saw white light reflect from the back of the tunnel that grew stronger by the minute. She knew they'd be cutting it close, but this was too close for her liking.

A glass door slammed down mere inches away from where Peridot passed, which made her jump up a bit as she ran; she clenched her teeth and bit back her instinctive shriek. That was just another thing that would slow her friends down. Since she just barely made it through the last "checkpoint", so to speak, she knew she basically had a minute to cross a distance she normally wouldn't be able to. On top of that, she was running on fumes at this point. After everything she had been through over less than a day in, Peridot was ready to collapse and take a long nap once she reached her ship.

On the bright side, there were only two more checkpoints she needed to cross before getting locked out before they reached the end. Steven just now made it there, with Garnet roughly half a minute away… and Peridot about three and a half. She'd have to double her speed just to barely make the cut. Peridot was about to curse herself for activating this feature, but it was actually slowing down White Diamond, who was only now halfway through. Still, she winced and whined while trying absolutely anything that came to mind to make her run faster.

Garnet crossed the finish line, but grimaced that Steven had not jumped down the chute yet. "Steven! You can't stay up here any longer! Get on the ship _now!_ "

"I'm not leaving without you guys!" Steven insisted. "Why don't you go back and help Peridot? You know she's not exactly a runner."

Garnet sighed, because she wanted to. She really did. But she timed the sound of the doors dropping and found it was a minute per door. "It's too dangerous, Steven. White Diamond is not far behind us in here. And we can't risk getting locked out."

"But it's okay for Peridot to risk it?!" Steven was getting mad. "That's not like you, Garnet! But fine, I'LL just do it, then!"

"You'll do no such thing, Steven Universe," Garnet commanded as she picked up Steven and held him back. "If you want to help her, you'll board the ship immediately!"

Steven struggled, though he too was exhausted from that marathon, so he didn't have that much to resist with. "How does that help anything?! Just look!"

Peridot let out a _"Yipe!"_ as the penultimate door fell down moments after she passed the checkpoint. It wasn't as close of a call as the last one, which would imply her running speed increased since the last. She just needed to clear one more door. She growled as she saw Steven and Garnet at the end just standing there instead of being on the ship like they were supposed to.

"Hey! CLODS! Get on my PeriLuck _right now!_ " She knew she shouldn't be talking; it only took energy she could instead use to run faster.

"Not until you're up here with us!" Steven called back. "Like you said, we're leaving no gem behind!"

" _Nnnrrgh_ , we can still do that if you get on the ship, Steven! I'm not gonna tell you again! This is an _order_ _from your leader!"_ Peridot didn't like pulling rank, especially on someone she liked, but she didn't know how else to force him into that chute.

"Forget that! Leader or not, you can't call your mission a success if you don't make it with us!" Steven deflected the order; in fact, this seemed to be the first time someone actually challenged Peridot's authority. He opted to appeal to Peridot's ego. But really, these two were seriously arguing at a time like this.

"Don't say it like I don't know that, you stupid Steven!" Peridot didn't want to resort to insults, but there were a million things running through her mind, and she only had 20 seconds left on a 25-second running distance. "White Diamond's after _you_ , y'know! You're the last person who should be up here until the last second!"

Steven could see being hard on her didn't work. He instead opted to appeal to her weakness for praise. "I believe in you, Peri. Just concentrate, okay? Imagine you're coming home to me, like you haven't been home in years. We're gonna make it! Say it with me, now!"

Garnet was frozen with indecision. If anyone could defy the path of her vision, it would be Steven. But she didn't want to keep him up here any longer, and she knew Peridot felt the same.

Tears spilled out of the corner of her right eye. Hearing that made her calmer; more in control, and she felt herself go a little faster. She had a goal she wanted to leap into right this second. " _Y-you stupid, stupid…_ We're gonna make it!"

10 seconds.

"We're gonna make it!"

"We're gonna make it!"

Garnet prepared herself; whether Peridot made it or not, she was going to throw Steven down the chute herself if it came to that.

7 seconds.

"We're gonna make it!"

"We're gonna make it!"

It looked like she made up her lost time. If Peridot should just shave off one more second, she'd be safe, and she felt she could do it. Of course she could. Steven always gave her exactly what she needed.

4 seconds.

"We're gonna make it!"

" _We're gonna make it!"_

She was almost right in their faces.

2 seconds.

"YOU MADE IT!"

"I MADE- _IIIIIIIIIIII-_ "

It was just a pity Peridot was a natural born klutz. One misstep on an indentation in the floor caused her to trip… and fall. She had been going so fast, as Steven felt he was watching Peridot fall in slow motion, that he thought she would slide through in true clumsy Peridot fashion.

Instead, the final door dropped, and instead of finding herself in Steven's loving arms, she found her head crashing hard against the door - specifically, its titanium plating around the edges. There was a shattering sound heard upon impact, but that wasn't Peridot's head breaking the glass.

That was Peridot's visor getting smashed to pieces by the metal she just roughly collided into.

" **NO! PERIDOOOOOT!"**

Steven rushed over to the opposite side of the door, looking at the damage. Neon green shards and pieces scattered together for the first time. Peridot was face-down and not moving, save for her twitching arms. Instinctively, he summoned his spiked shield and tried to ram the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"STEVEN! That's _enough!_ We can't wait any longer! You can't break the door down!" Garnet hated sounding this cold, but it's what her leader wanted. Just as she grabbed at Steven's sides, Peridot slowly rose up to see the reality of her situation, and that was enough to make her friends cease any and all movements. The glass was too thick for any kind of conversation to be held on opposite ends; it was too muffled.

Though clearly dazed from the concussion she probably had now, Peridot just smiled at them both. For the first time for both Steven and Garnet, they bore witness to the true color of Peridot's eyes: hazel on the right, and blue on the left. Heterochromia.

Her left hand rested on the glass; her right formed a thumbs-up for Garnet. Steven rested his hand on the glass, trying so desperately to think of some miracle that would let their hands truly make contact. Tears poured down from Garnet's visor as she forced a smile and returned the thumbs-up in kind. Steven's eyes were full of tears, as to be expected. But even though his tears could revive the dead, they couldn't open a door. They couldn't save this life.

Peridot studied the two for a second, then started _laughing._ She was laughing in earnest; they didn't need to hear her to know that. Was it to bring their spirits up, or hers? Or maybe she wanted her friends to see a happy, goofy Peridot in her last moments before they would never see her again? She refused to cry, and she refused to stop smiling.

White Diamond was coming. The glass part of the door was just as strong as the kind she used in her own space ship… nothing would break that.

Peridot could've tried to hack the door, but she just didn't have the time. Especially when Garnet had her tablet now.

She could have even tried to will the door back up with her power, but she barely had the strength to do what she was doing already. She just barely knew where she was.

These two friends of hers were still there. She had to keep everybody safe, no matter what. Steven and Garnet certainly were not safe being here anymore. She had one last duty to perform as leader of the Crystal Gems.

Peridot whipped her head back to hear an explosion of glass. White Diamond would be here any minute now. She only let her smile fade at this moment, knowing her friends couldn't see her face. It was back on immediately as she turned back to face Steven and Garnet; they both heard the crash, too.

It was time. Using both hands, she pointed to Steven and Garnet and then pointed down. It wasn't hard to figure out what meant. Garnet nodded, but Steven shook his head. That was to be expected. But it wasn't his choice to make.

"Steven… this is her last command to us as our leader," Garnet told him softly. "Don't disrespect her again. We have to leave; the others are waiting for us and she knows that. This is all we can give her… our respect for her as a leader, and our love for her as one of the family. Come on, now."

Garnet didn't have to deal with any resistance this time; it looked like Steven accepted this. She held Steven up and looked to Peridot one last time. The smile she gave them and the shine in her eyes made even Garnet not want to take that step down… but orders were orders, and the rest of the team's lives were at stake still. She nodded to the little gem, while Steven couldn't even speak; his tears just flowed freely over his cheeks. He wouldn't take his eyes off Peridot right up to the moment where he disappeared into the chute; Garnet followed not long after.

"What a bunch of sentimental clods… I expected better out of Garnet. You'd better make it out of here; I didn't build the PeriLuck for you to die in it."

It actually hurt to say that name now.

* * *

Garnet and Steven were roughly ejected from the chute into the ship, being banged hard against the wall before falling down. Well, Garnet took the brunt of it. Steven just didn't care right now.

"It's about time!" Amethyst shouted. "Hang on, hold up… are we _still_ waiting for Peridot?!"

The look Steven gave her could kill. Amethyst promptly shut her mouth.

"Greg, start the ship. Emergency liftoff." Garnet was back on her feet.

Greg looked behind him to see Garnet there… seemingly more unreadable than usual. "Huh? Aren't we waiting for Peridot?"

"I officially reclaim my title as leader of the Crystal Gems," Garnet announced. "I carry my predecessor's final order: start the ship. We lift off immediately."

Greg got the implication. He quickly pushed the button before he let the emotional sorrow take over him.

And the PeriLuck took off… but was hindered by something important. It was tethered to Homeworld, still.

"It's that makeshift chute!" Pearl realized. "There was never a dislodging mechanism for it, was there?!"

Peridot just realized that folly herself. Now she felt she deserved this fate; that was such a stupid oversight on her part. Building that chute was literally the first thing they did when they took their first steps on Homeworld!

"C-can't you, I dunno, _dislodge_ it manually?!" Greg wailed. With the velocity the ship was trying to go but couldn't, it was making a very uncomfortable time for everyone on board.

"It's too dangerous!" Pearl explained. "Even if I can force it off, the hatch is still open and this ship is trying to go mach 5!" She didn't need to explain any more than that. Anyone who tried to fix this would no doubt be sucked out of the ship and fall right back into Homeworld.

Peridot wasn't letting anyone else lose their life today. Thankfully the hatch was a simple thing to manipulate. She moved her hand in a way that resembled how someone would open a lid off a jar. Little did she know that since the ship was on level with where she was imprisoned, some people could see her right out the window. Connie, Bismuth, and Amethyst, namely. They didn't understand the gesture until they heard the loud crunching sound that was the metal hatch slicing through the top of the plastic chute, severing the tie and finally freeing the PeriLuck from this world. The ship was gone within the blink of an eye.

"W-well… out of 8 Crystal Gems I had to watch out for here on Homeworld, including myself… 7 out of 8 isn't that bad." Peridot sighed. "That's… a 87.5% grade. A solid B+. And that's fine…"

" _You have already conceded to your fate, I see."_

"Oh. You're here. Took you long enough."

* * *

Lapis groaned as if she had a headache. "Where am- wait, this is the ship…"

She had just reformed in her assigned seat on the PeriLuck. The ship was still in the process on leaving Homeworld's atmosphere.

"Welcome back, Lapis…" Steven halfheartedly greeted, giving her the same amount of effort into hugging her. He happened to be sitting next to her.

"Yeah, glad you're back." Even Bismuth sounded like she had her soul sucked away. She rested a hand over Lapis' shoulder, but couldn't bring herself to look at her newly-reformed friend.

And Lapis indeed had even more of an upgrade to her outfit. A crop top featuring a half-star in dark blue to contrast the brighter shade above. She now wore pants for the first time; dark blue poofy pants, at that. It was fastened with a gold ribbon, and Lapis seemed to follow her own advice way back during the workstation portion of the mission and now donned a pair of golden sandals. She enjoyed her more refined new look, but was quick to notice no one seemed to care at all. In fact, they were downright depressed. And _quiet_. Even Amethyst.

"I'm… sorry if this is a bad time, everyone, but… what's going on? You're acting like someone died."

Only Garnet had the strength to speak. She was seated ahead of Lapis, but she didn't even turn her head to face the newly-reformed gem. "Give it time. We'll be leaving the atmosphere very soon."

Lapis couldn't even begin to make sense of that. "What… what are you even talking about?"

Just then, the PeriLuck left the atmosphere. Everyone was officially free from Homeworld. The ship slowed down and righted itself to its proper alignment. Pearl walked over and pointed out which buttons to push to initiate autopilot. Lapis wondered why Pearl was the one explaining this; she didn't build the ship.

Before anyone could say or do anything else, the projections screen that displayed the trajectory, ETA, distance, time, et cetera switched to Peridot in what must have been a prerecording. She just stood there, looking solemn and dutiful before speaking in a tone similar to her eerie professional demeanor towards the end of the flight to Homeworld.

" _This is Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG reporting to the PeriLuck. Assuming my ship's calculations have not malfunctioned, it looks like all of you made it out of this alive… except perhaps one. Send the future me my regards; I was 75% certain I would perish in some way on this mission to Homeworld, but it's fine, really. This mission is too important to run away from. Hint-hint, Lapis."_

Lapis looked flustered, but sobered down quickly. She got it now… somebody _did_ die while she was out.

" _But really, I thank you all for this time we spent together. It's been great; I mean it. And I mean it when I say I do love you all. The point of this message is to inform the lot of you that your digital devices, should you have one, will receive a file from me similar in format to this once this recording has concluded. I thought it would be fitting that my final messages to my wonderful Earth family would be in the form of the logs I did when I first came to Earth. Each message received is unique, and directed only to you, and preferably should only be heard by you. I believe I communicate better with these logs than I ever have in person. Someone understands that perfectly well, am I right, Amethyst?"_

Amethyst buried her face in her hair, trying to stifle her tears. "F-for cryin' out loud, P-Dot…"

" _That's all there is to report. Your return flight to Earth has long since been pre-programmed into the system. You'll be in auto-pilot for the majority of it, but once you approach Earth, I think you should man the controls, Pearl. You weren't there when the PeriLuck was built, but I have faith you'll catch on quickly. You always do."_

Pearl covered her mouth, but let her tears flow freely.

" _And Steven? Thank you for everything you've given me. I'd say you have no idea what you truly mean to me, but… well, you're about to find out. I hope it doesn't weird you out too much."_

"But I already found out!" Steven cried out before remembering this was a prerecording. "And… and it's _not_ weird…"

" _Ugh, I'm rambling. I'll end the log here, then. I wish everyone a safe travel back to Earth. I pray you will never have to leave your planet ever again._

 _ **Peridot, out**."_


	3. The Diamond in the Rough

Peridot felt like she had been running for days. For all she knew, that very well could have been the case; the solid black sky remained a constant, and the gem really had no other way to see any indication of the passage of time. That had been consistent for every "stage" she had been put through hell in.

Her eyes lit up; at last, the 7th touchscreen was within reach. Like with all the others she collected, Peridot made sure to change the direction of where she ran as soon as possible while trying her best to minimize the consequential loss of her running speed. She had been wise to do this for her previous objectives, and this time was no different - Peridot felt just a mild sting of destabilization course through her body as the pseudo-White Diamond abruptly appeared right where Peridot would have been had she stayed the course. The radius of that horrible, agonizing static effect seemed to increase gradually - either over time or the more touchscreens Peridot gathered. What was definitely not in question was how much more of a challenge it became to avoid this foe; this definitely scaled up with the number of touchscreens collected. Peridot knew it wasn't a coincidence that the horrific ambient music blared out more and more each time by the time she had finished reading the most recently acquired touchscreen.

"Excellent! Just one more left to get…" Peridot heaved out as she continued to run. "L-Let's see what the Pasty Primadonna left this time." To her relief, the message for this touchscreen was brief like most of the others had been. There were a few close calls, but Peridot hadn't yet been caught while trying to read and run at the same time. The technician was surprised she hadn't tripped or slipped once since this twisted game started, but considering that was what landed her in this situation instead of enjoying the company of her friends and family at home, it seemed apparent that Peridot had been going out of her way to not let her clumsy tendencies overtake her again.

"Hm… "When will you wake up?"… huh?" Peridot was both annoyed and perplexed by this message. Most of the messages had been ones purely meant to embarrass Peridot or make her even more miserable, but this was the first direct question from White Diamond she had received. After storing it away in haste, Peridot thought that over while she kept an eye out for the final touchscreen and the White Diamond lookalike. " _Ohh_ , that's right," Peridot recalled. "None of this is actually happening. Of course it isn't. There's no way I could be running like this constantly in real life. I haven't even tripped yet!" It had been a while since Peridot last acknowledged her situation; the gemstone was all that remained of her in real life and it had been that way for quite some time. Since Peridot could will herself to stay in that form as long as she wanted, of course White Diamond had to find some way to screw with her mind regardless of her form. All of these "games" had been designed by White Diamond to draw out her corporeal body, but since Peridot had won every single round since the challenges were first issued, she could resist all of these attempts.

"I'll wake up when I _feel like it_ , Defective Diamond!" Peridot called out into the black abyss known as this environment's sky. "As long as I keep winning your stupid games, you can't do anything about that, can you?! Hah, you're such a _loser!_ "

She should have known better than to antagonize her captor, because seconds later Peridot felt a flicker of destabilization and some static effects, but no white stalker in sight. Peridot looked to see if anything was going on behind her, and she regretted ever doing so. The faux White Diamond was there, some good distance away… but now white tendrils had spawned from her body and creeped towards the fleeing gem like methodical homing missiles.

Peridot gulped and started looking around for that final screen. "I need to stop giving her reasons to hack her own game," she bemoaned. "Come on, just one more! One more! Where _are_ you?!"

By collecting all but one of the plot coupons, the environment couldn't be any worse than it was now. Peridot barely had time to scan her surroundings for a touchscreen before she was forced to change her course; this version of White Diamond was full-aggro now and hellbent on trapping Peridot before she could make any headway into completing her objective.

It got very dicey when Peridot found herself nearly surrounded either by White Diamond, her creepy proxies, or the light tentacles. By that point, some nondescript derelict building had been spotted on a nearby hill. This was the only location Peridot was certain she hadn't been to yet; the touchscreen _had_ to be in there. Of course, there wasn't any metal in the area Peridot could make use of to defend herself, and in an act of fine timing, Peridot felt her gemstone's light emitter begin to flicker, like a flashlight that was low on batteries.

That was _not_ what Peridot needed considering her destination. She had to make a snap decision to choose which abomination to take a hit from, because she wasn't getting out of this white circle unscathed.

Peridot went with the reverse-psychology route; normally one would assume the tentacles and smaller proxies would be what to go through, but the gem knew better. If she was getting out of this snag alive, she had to opt for the crazy route and go through the biggest projection of White Diamond. It was clear all but one of these obstacles were merely holograms - ones that would induce distortion - but not to the game-ending levels of the hard light original.

She took that chance, and Peridot make it out of the trap alive. The destabilizing effect was much stronger than she anticipated; Peridot found she could endure many of these so long as she dealt with them on an infrequent basis, but this one was even more powerful than the surge she felt when White Diamond first teleported within inches of her. Still, the little gem powered through it and was in the clear to enter the abandoned building.

In all honesty, Peridot _didn't_ want to go in there. On the field, she had all the room in the world to maneuver around these terrifying obstacles. That was a freedom a building would take away from her. And why _wouldn't_ White Diamond be waiting to ambush her in there? Still, it was her only option. She could only evade the aggressive AI for so long on the field anyway, and after taking a necessary hit, Peridot could tell anything more than that would poof or shatter her for sure.

Peridot grumbled as her gem light started to short out as she entered the building. "Come on, not _now!_ I can't go into this totally blind!" She really missed her visor in times like this. At least that came equipped with night vision. Peridot knew better not to linger in here anyway, so she quickly combed through the building in search of the final touchscreen. At least that would be lit up. This game had to end once Peridot obtained it. Then White Diamond would have to find some other way to draw out her out in real life, _again_.

It was a pain to navigate this structure; it was full of narrow passages and corridors, including those of the dead-end variety. Peridot refused to acknowledge any other real details to this run-down establishment. Her light could go out at any second and she needed it at least until the faint glimmer of the final touchscreen came into view. Some dark corners had a faint static effect; clear indications not to go that way any further. White Diamond was somewhere, surely, just waiting to drop in.

Peridot gasped with glee as she finally saw the final touchscreen in the distance. Not a moment too soon; her gemstone light was nearly dead. Of course, it would be in the most remote corner of this building, but the gem no longer cared. Her ticket to victory and freedom was _right there_.

And despite the occasional blip of distortion, Peridot wasn't being outright pursued, so she ran headlong to her goal and leaped up as she grabbed the final touchscreen and hugged it vigorously.

" _YES!_ Yesyesyesyesyes! Thank the stars, _yes!_ " Peridot wasted no time reading the message.

It read: _"I no longer have the patience to spare for you, Twilight. You've slept long enough. It's time."_

Peridot wanted to think this was just White Diamond being a sore loser, but deep down she knew the Diamond was likely being serious. "Time for _what?!_ Y-you can't do this; I won the game! I got your 8 stupid touchscreens!"

It was then that Peridot noticed the ambient music completely stopped; it was dead silent now. The jolt that ran down Peridot's body as she heard a very loud and heavy door slam echo throughout the building was enough to make her fall, but she was fast to scramble back onto her feet. Then footsteps were heard at a steady and casual pace before another door slammed shut. At that point, Peridot's light finally died out. Now there was nothing but total darkness on all sides of her.

"N-no, you're just cheating now," she whined in a hushed whisper. In a last-ditch effort to do _something_ to protect herself, Peridot summoned all 8 touchscreens and organized them like some sort of barrier. They emitted faint light, at least. But sadly, all the light did was tell Peridot she was stuck in a corner with nowhere to run other than in the direction of all the noise. "Please, _please_ put me in another zone… I-I won, just get over it!"

The touchscreens simultaneously dulled out and fell to the floor; sounds of the footsteps bounced off the walls and reverberated in Peridot's mind. Now fully defeated with no other ideas to escape, Peridot backed up against the wall and held her hands together; fingers interlacing over one another. Her hands clutched against her chest as Peridot looked into the total darkness to anticipate whatever was coming to end her.

"... St-Steven… _Steven, help!_ "

Seconds later, the nightmare-inducing face of White Diamond flickering with static and that godawful noise was all that Peridot could see or hear now, until her consciousness faded…

* * *

" _STEVEN!_ Are you-?"

Peridot sat up abruptly, feeling a cold sweat all over her body. Now, all she could see was a white void… sadly, this wasn't just a nightmare. She sighed out; both in relief that she wasn't dead, and resignation that she was still a prisoner. She couldn't tell for sure whether or not she actually woke up this time… until a conspicuous calming, motherly voice echoed throughout the area.

" _Ah, awake at last… so lovely to finally meet you, Twilight. Though I'm offended you felt the need to shield your eyes from me again…"_

That was obviously White Diamond; there was no mystery to Peridot about it. What did confuse her was that line, but it was only then she noticed everything around her was tinted yellow with hardly any green like it usually was. And her visor was destroyed…

"Wha… what are you talking about?"

" _I suppose for saving your friends, including Pink, you were gifted with a new form that makes you truly look like a… "hero". Even though you are more of a prisoner these days. Take a look, dear."_

A mirror materialized out of nowhere in front of Peridot. She didn't care to question it, because she was in awe of how different she looked now. Peridot stood and approached the mirror, absorbing in every detail about her that changed.

For starters, the different visor. It covered much less of her face now - in fact, even her gemstone was left completely unprotected - but there was an obvious boosted "coolness" factor to her new eyewear. It was more stylized, almost butterfly-shaped. It reminded Peridot of Garnet's cool new shades her fellow leader gained upon reforming during the rescue effort. That was fitting enough.

The jumpsuit Peridot wore since the day of her emergence was completely gone. In its place was something more liberating for movement - a simple two-piece bodysuit, green from the midsection up to her neck, and dark green below the former point. In the middle of her chest was a gleaming yellow star. Her leggings were a slightly lighter shade of green than the top of her bodysuit, adorned with forest green stars on each knee. She wore proper boots as well, yellow in color just like her top star.

"Oh… oh my." Peridot hard a hard time finding the words to say. Deep down she knew this was a bittersweet achievement - she enjoyed her new form, but no longer had friends to share this with. This was merely her consolation prize for being mere inches and milliseconds away from escaping Homeworld. "I'm… I look like… like I'm a real Crystal Gem now…"

She decided to let herself enjoy this as much as she could, posing in various ways while savoring the new look. Peridot was sure this would be her single bit of joy gained from this glorified cage. The gem also sadly acknowledged that she must be truly awake now – she had been in the same uniform she wore since she parted from her friends, topped off with the broken visor, for every "game" White Diamond put her through.

At that time, White Diamond - or one of her many separate forms - appeared before the prisoner and shapeshifted herself to become a size more appropriate for communicating with her new hostage. She'd been waiting a long time for this.

"All right, all right… I've let you have far more fun than you deserve, Twilight," she said as the mirror shattered in front of Peridot, leaving the gem very let down. "As I said before, you have quite a penchant for disrespecting your superiors. No wonder Yellow couldn't bring you back… it's been a long time since I've seen a gem voluntarily return to their stone. You had me quite surprised when you took yourself out…"

Peridot rubbed her head as she struggled to remember the details of what happened when she was captured. She remembered her head hurting a _lot_ … then it came back to her.

"I'm fairly certain it was the concussion I sustained during my escape that caused me to poof," Peridot countered. "I no longer had the energy to do anything else, and… I've learned long ago that you should never lose consciousness when you have a concussion. After recovering from that, I merely decided you weren't worth my time to even bother coming out, White Diamond."

White Diamond just _barely_ flinched at the sacrilege this bottom-caste gem threw her way. "Not many gems can force their forms to hide in their stones," she noted. "Especially not for as long as you have. I'm all the more certain that I've finally found you, Twilight… even I didn't expect you to be such a valuable hostage and a… pet project to occupy my time with until Pink returns."

Now Peridot was triggered. "The name is **STEVEN** , not Pink, you pebble!"

White smiled. "I see you're intelligent enough to know your worth as a hostage to be tossing such language at a Diamond haphazardly. Such acts are always met with shattering before a sentence can even be finished. But you are aware, Twilight, that your value as bait makes you untouchable, as I would otherwise lose my leverage over your friends."

"You really suck at remembering names," Peridot grumbled. "Peridot. Facet-2F5L. Cut-5XG. Geez, I expected at least a "5XG" out of you, but you really are the worst Diamond ever…"

"No, no; now that I've seen what you truly are, I know you are for a fact my Twilight," White said with utter delight in her tone. "You should be honored. No other Peridot has received such an honor in Homeworld's history."

Peridot was not impressed. "Honored for _what?_ Being given a random, arbitrary nickname by you? Would it kill you to be a little more specific?"

That's when White Diamond had an idea of why her victim hadn't broken down yet. "Tell me, Twilight… have you ever _seen_ your eyes before? Your true, naked eyes?"

"Ugh, don't make it sound creepy. I've never had a need to see my eyes that way," Peridot said dismissively. "I know there was some report claiming my eyes to be defective, but my eyesight has always been what it should be and my eyes are shaped as intended. Clearly, someone at the Kindergarten office screwed up."

"They did indeed," White agreed. "The report was erroneous… rather, it was not specific enough. No one thought the Final Experiment would be you; almost all previous experiments were high-class Era 1 gems. It was thought to have stopped after Era 2, because it would be wasteful. But you, my Twilight, were in the batch of the very last gems Homeworld could create. This was the final opportunity to make use of my greatest experiment… to see if even the lowest of the low on Homeworld could ascend to the greatest heights."

Peridot did not like where this was going. She'd never seen anything that indicated she was gemetically altered as she cooked in her rock. She was always treated like every other Peridot. Yellow Diamond certainly didn't think much of her, either. "Well, that's a stupidly insane and wasteful way to end your experimenting spree," she remarked. "I've heard rumors about a few of these experiments. Their improved productivity or combat prowess never lasted long enough before it blew up in your faces… why am I not surprised it was the Diamonds all along who were behind these twisted experiments?"

"The Final Experiment has a completely different goal," White Diamond told her excitedly. A large shard of the shattered mirror floated up to Peridot. "Dear, I want you to _really_ take a look at your eyes. The eyes you emerged with. Go on."

Part of Peridot wanted to just defy White Diamond as usual, but now she was curious. She really never had seen her eyes when they weren't shielded with a visor… she never had a reason to take it off. Slowly, she lifted up her shades and looked intently at the mirror. That's when she saw it: blue and hazel.

"H-heterochromia–?!" Peridot fell back in shock, but the mirror adjusted itself so that Peridot couldn't look away from this. "N-no, that can't be! That can't be the case at all! Oh my stars, _no_..." What few unfused gems with heterochromia Peridot had learned about never had a happy ending. They stopped existing in Peridot's time completely, but that didn't stop her from learning of some key moments during the distant past… not least of all, the Lone Twin Massacre. And since that incident, heterochromatic gems were subject to ridicule and isolation… even bullying. But as far as colleagues go, it was Peridot herself who did the bullying. It just didn't match up.

"Wh-why me?!" she cried out. "Why do I have to be like one of them?!"

White Diamond enjoyed seeing Peridot's strong front get pulled apart before her very eyes. "As I said, you are only similar to them in that you are one of our many experiments across the eras," she explained. "You are merely the final one… made for an entirely new purpose."

Peridot fell to her butt and scooted back, shaking her head. "N-no! I want you to explain this before you go off on a tangent! _Do it_ , or I'm not gonna bother listening to the rest of your worthless dreck!"

That made White Diamond smirk. "The way you speak… the audacity to order a _Diamond_ who has you imprisoned… I'd say these are the results I would expect. And due to your status and the nature of what we've made you, none were the wiser to what you truly are, Twilight." She then created a giant viewing screen, then some more, making sure Peridot couldn't turn in any direction to avoid seeing what the Diamond would soon show her. "Your extended period of stubbornness allowed me so much free time to glean whatever was valuable from your memories. Even ones locked away, incomplete, or ones recently realized."

"What's this going to accomplish?!" Peridot screamed out. She knew she wouldn't like whatever it was she would soon see. "You're just spewing crap out of your mouth as usual, as a Diamond _does!_ "

"You will see what you truly are when you see the evidence in your memories, Twilight," White Diamond insisted. "Pay attention, now… closing your eyes or covering your ears will lead to some devastating consequences."

Peridot was then surrounded on all sides by actual footage of her distant memories; as if White Diamond just ripped them out and made a proper film for her hostage to see. She saw herself the day she emerged, on the assembly line along with the rest of her 5X kin. Peridot knew she didn't recognize them as such back then and didn't care. She winced as she heard 5XD screech out in pain before a loud explosion shattered her instantly. 5XE and 5XF survived, but both were visibly miserable and in pain after the limb enhancers were attached to their bodies. 5XA through 5XC had similar reactions.

Then it was 5XG's turn. Her face never moved; never _flinched_ as her limb enhancers were attached. She barely acknowledged their presence. This was something Peridot hated looking at; she knew she was little more than a mindless drone back then. The worst part of this was seeing 5XH have her turn with the torture; she reacted very poorly, and consequently, met the same fate as 5XD… and Peridot felt sick as she watched pieces of her sister shatter, with many bouncing off or landing on 5XG, who did not acknowledge the explosive shattering, let alone the pieces of her little sister that adorned various parts of her body.

"Do you see?" White Diamond's voice boomed over the footage. "You handled your limb enhancer assembly perfectly. Of the 26 Peridots in the 5X cut series, you were the only one who handled the matter with grace and dignity."

"Grace and dignity?!" Peridot hated this being described so erroneously. "Where even _is_ that?! There's a difference between grace and dignity and _being completely emotionless!_ I was hardly even aware of myself back then! How can you call that anything but being a barely-sentient drone?!"

White Diamond was glad she asked that. "Let's look at a cute little moment later on in your short life…"

Peridot gulped as she scene shifted to a few years later. The technician saw herself definitely acting more like her own person, but…

" _9FC, I can't be faulted for your shortcomings. Perhaps even being a Peridot, the lowest of the low in this caste system, is simply beyond your means. Beyond accepting your fate to be shattered for your incompetence, I simply cannot stick my neck out for you. You must learn that this… "making friends" activity you insist upon, will only lead to your downfall. Understand that we were never friends."_

" _B-but you said–"_

" _I lied. Lying is easy. Did you fail in learning that as well, 9FC? Everything we do is to ensure our own well-being and perform as best we can. That is our purpose. To be honest, I find it fascinating that you've yet to be shattered, 9FC. Then again, you have made a habit of sticking close to me, the top worker of this facet. Do you believe in that myth that by being within my radius, my success, competence, and skill would somehow transfer vicariously through yourself? Perhaps you're better suited to be my Pearl, 9FC. A Peridot with a Pearl… that's fitting for the head of the class, is it not? Everyone, I insist from this point forward you refer to this sniveling 9FC as "Green Pearl"."_

This was met with boisterous laughter from the other Peridots present in this memory. Peridot just couldn't look at her past self directly… and especially not 9FC.

"Is that not precious?" White Diamond said with glee. She was enjoying this far too much. "I especially like this one!"

" _What did you just say you me?! What are you even doing, 5XG?!"_

" _I am embracing my inner, inherent superiority, 3UI. I feel compelled to assert my dominance, to maintain my excellent standing with our superiors. Now, what I said to you is to fetch me a tool, you clod. Unless you would prefer to volunteer yourself as my new tool? That would be fitting for the likes of you…"_

" _5XG, you can't get away with acting up like this! Y-you mock the very Diamond you live to serve! And I will not be your slave; unless I am designated as such, you have no authority to determine my position."_

" _Rescind your statement immediately. This is_ _ **not**_ _mocking. This is an homage; an act of respect for Yellow Diamond. Clearly, you are more defective than you appear on the surface, 3UI… I expected better out of you. I ask you not to be as pathetic as Green Pearl."_

" _And you still have the gall to call 9FC that–! I certainly will not take back what I said; the claim stands that you are clearly mocking the Diamonds, and that is a violation of Homeworld law! If Yellow Diamond saw you right now, she would shatter you on the spot!"_

" _I know for a fact that will not happen… but perhaps my Diamond will shatter you for behaving like a raving, defective lunatic instead of working as a Peridot should."_

" _Then why are_ _ **you**_ _not working in your designated station, 5XG?! Your shift has not yet ended. I could report you right now, and then we'll see who ends up shattered!"_

" _Hmph… clearly, you are not clever enough to learn the art of forceful persuasion. Such a pity. I'd invite you to watch and learn how it is done, but you do not qualify to learn what I can teach. But please, 3UI, report me if you must. I will be very much entertained seeing you struggle to prove me of any wrongdoing. You do realize if you fail, I have the authority to order for your immediate execution, correct?"_

" _Your attempts to frighten me into submission will not work on me, 5XG. Prepare yourself; your imaginary diamond throne is about to crumble beneath you."_

The scene seemed to pause there; Peridot was trying in vain to hold herself together. "That isn't me anymore… it's not… 5XG died a long time ago! I-I'm just Peridot, and that's all there is to it!"

"You're focusing on the wrong details, Twilight," White Diamond pointed out. "This is not about how you treated your fellow kin. This is about your own behavior… your inclination to imitate Yellow Diamond, despite the risk of being punished for it."

The footage showed Peridot gracefully mimicking the moves and gestures of her Diamond. Peridot remembered doing this, of course… she just couldn't remember why. But as she further studied her past self's best efforts to emulate the movements and grace of Yellow Diamond, her own gemstone began to glow and put an uncomfortable amount of heat in Peridot's body. "I-I… what's happening?! I don't understand!"

"You will very soon," White Diamond assured. "Let us see how you evaded your shattering despite your careless actions breaking the law…"

The scene shifted to later in the day. Peridot was back at her console, working as she should, though she had successfully convinced 7SJ and 1YA to cover for her and do her work while she went out to have her sudden need to homage her Diamond outside the workstation. Those two Peridots were gullible and stupid enough to be in awe of 5XG's commanding presence and wanted to follow her example. 5XG found such a notion to be disgusting, as there would only ever be one of her, but she permitted it as it allowed 5XG to use her colleagues in any way she saw fit. This occasion was a perfect example. She had left an impression on several of her Peridot colleagues, both positive and negative. But even most Peridots who did not buy into 5XG's authoritative act had no gumption to put her in her place.

Ever since it was known that 5XG felt no pain whatsoever during the limb enhancer assembly, she had gained a solid reputation for being tough and therefore respectable. 5XG wasn't about to let her good first impression go to waste, and used that as her foundation to construct the professional, cunning egomaniac she later became. The more she desired for Yellow Diamond's attention and approval, the more she felt the need to ape her image. For being a Peridot, 5XG often had an attitude that better matched the nobility of Homeworld… or even the Diamonds themselves. Of course, 5XG was clever enough to know when to tone it down. After being in close proximity to so many gems being shattered who were right beside her, 5XG had a strong sense of self-preservation. Despite still being little more than a competent, exceptional worker gem in the end, 5XG had developed more traits to her persona than present-day Peridot would care to admit. She had already purged most of these memories long ago, but her run-in with 9FC triggered a domino effect in Peridot's memories. Every memory regained made Peridot hate her previous self more and more. No amount of changing for the better would erase her tyrannical behavior on her kin… all just to get Yellow Diamond's recognition.

Peridot Facet-2E9F Cut-3UI entered the workstation accompanied by an Amethyst enforcer and an Emerald. The Peridot quickly pointed to her haughty colleague.

" _That's the one, ma'am! 5XG, the fool who would mock the Diamonds during her work shift!"_

5XG just looked up from her console to acknowledge her colleague and her cohorts.

" _My superiors, please accept my apology for my colleague wasting your time. As you can see, I have been in my designated seat doing what I have been created to do: work. I can assure you, I am not behind in my work. Take a look, if you'd like."_

The Emerald walked over to inspect Peridot's terminal. No signs of tampering or foul play at all, and 5XG was in fact well ahead of her colleagues when it came to her work output. This was the norm for the haughty Peridot, though. She was perfectly capable of doing this on her own and often did, but if ever an opportunity arose where she could get someone to do the work for her, 5XG leaped at the opportunity. She did in fact earn her high marks, for the most part. It was just… at this stage in Peridot's life, she was known for her high intellect and skill just as much as she was known for her cunning cruelty and well exceeding her superiors with her authoritative demand. To 5XG, this was what she needed to do to survive.

" _She enlisted help from the other Peridots here! 7SJ, 1YA! Go ahead; tell them how 5XG treats you!"_

The two Peridots in question were at their own consoles a row below. They looked up to 3UI and the unexpected visitors.

" _5XG is good company, madam Emerald. I do not understand what 3UI is asking of me, but her implications suggest some sort of grudge-based sabotage, which is not conducive to work productivity."_

" _I agree with 1YA. The work atmosphere always improves when 5XG is present, and our output is always at its highest when she is in the station. 3UI, you should know better than to let your jealousy come before your occupation."_

3UI grunted in frustration. Of course, 5XG had completely brainwashed those two ages ago. But she knew there were others in this station that resented 5XG for one reason or another. She needed someone in this station to confirm 5XG's alibi is a lie. Then she thought of something.

" _If that's the case and you have not neglected your own work in order to push 5XG ahead artificially, then let us see how badly your own output has suffered! Both of you, display your screens and compare it to the average of everyone in this station!"_

The two follower Peridots complied, and everyone else simply hit a button to indicate the rate of their work. 1YA and 7SJ were below what they should be, but based on their history, this was not unusual for either of them. There were plenty of Peridots in the station who had much lower performance rates than either of them. But both were very close to the point of reaching the point where they should be; 5XG naturally enlisted both of them so one could work on another's console and then swap places to work on the other's. That way, neither would fall _too_ far behind while serving their beloved 5XG. She was a bully, but that didn't mean she was stupid. Far, far from it, in fact. It was a diabolical combination. To no one's surprise, 5XG's rate far exceeded everyone else's. Emerald twitched; she felt her time was being wasted now.

" _3UI, so far no one is backing up your claims and there is no conclusive evidence whatsoever. Is there, or is there not a work stoppage going on here like you claimed?"_

" _Y-you see, the problem is, 1YA and 7SJ are biased parties! They adore 5XG, so of course they would cover for her lie! We need an unbiased perspective! We need… we need…."_

3UI struggled as she looked around the room. She knew most of these Peridots fairly well, and most of them fell for 5XG's act. Those who didn't had, for the most part, ended up in a private conversation with her eventually. They quickly learned the rules to surviving in this facet. Rule #1: Don't piss 5XG off. Each coworker either ignored 3UI or just shook their head at her, not wanting to invoke 5XG's wrath since 3UI clearly rushed this attempt to get 5XG caught breaking the rules.

" _3UI, clearly this is your first time trying to sabotage one of your colleagues, and you are risking everyone's work output and performance with your behavior. I have given you many chances to make your case, and you have failed every time. You have wasted my time, this Amethyst's time, and you dared to waste the time of your facet's star pupil. 5XG, please come forward. It will only be for a moment."_

5XG stood from her seat and approached the trio. By this point, the Amethyst enforcer had apprehended 3UI; she had lost this battle, and now her life was in the hands of the gem she tried to snitch on. Emerald turned to face 5XG, who stood with rigid respect; opposite of her behavior all day.

" _At ease, 5XG. Since you are the one being targeted for this crime, it is only just that you decide 3UI's fate. If she has any last words, it is your right to determine whether or not she deserves them."_

" _Ah… very kind of you, Commander Emerald. I am curious what words she does have for me… I'll let that determine her fate. Let us see if 3UI is up to the task of saving her own life."_

Peridot cringed as she watched her past self approach the helpless 3UI. She remembered this now, as well. White Diamond was forcing her to remember everything she had done in her former life… for reasons uncertain. But her gemstone continued to glow in an unusual manner similar to how it glowed in her video to Steven. It was giving Peridot a headache on top of all this stress. Now she had to listen to her former colleague's final words.

" _Y-you are diabolical, defective gem, 5XG! You've infected our entire workstation with your terrorism and do so under the guise of being as perfect a Peridot can be! The more I've seen you mimic her, the more of Yellow Diamond I see in you, 5XG! If you think you could come anywhere_ _ **close**_ _to being like the Diamonds, you are cracked beyond repair! You overachieve, but to what end?! Yellow Diamond will never see you as anything more than a pawn! Stop your foolish fantasizing and act like what you really are, 5XG! Or are you that insecure of your true identity? This is why–"_

" _3UI, you've had your time to make your case. You're going in circles; be grateful I allowed you to speak as much as I did. Sing my name in praise that I allowed you to talk at all. This was intriguing at first, but now you bore me. Peridot Facet-2E9F Cut-3UI… that will be all."_

5XG nodded to the Amethyst detaining 3UI, who understood the order (though not thinking at first how odd it was she was taking a direct order from a Peridot and not the Emerald heading this case). With one sickening crunch, 3UI was no more. 5XG watched the entire act and let out a wicked smile as pieces of 3UI's gemstone bounced past her. She inadvertently caught a bigger piece and wrapped her artificial hand around it.

" _I'll allow that given the context of this case, 5XG. I assume you know better about mimicking their behavior for any other reason."_

" _Of course, Commander Emerald. I merely wished to end on a thematically fitting line. I'm very sorry that worthless Peridot wasted your time."_

" _Given her nature, it was probably worthwhile to shatter her before she causes more serious problems in the future. Very good work as always, 5XG. Keep it up and you'll get called up for an interplanetary mission in due time."_

" _It is my pleasure to serve you; good day Commander Emerald… Enforcer Amethyst."_

5XG bowed to her superiors before they both vacated the station. All of the Peridots stopped working when they heard of an imminent execution and all eyes were consequently on 5XG now. She took notice to this; her wicked smile returned, and she turned to address her coworkers.

" _I know this hasn't been the first time I made an example out of an envious Peridot, but let this be a refresher course to remind everyone what will become of you if you even entertain the notion of snitching on me. Mind your own business, and you'll live a long, fulfilling life for our Diamond."_

To punctuate her point, she crushed the chunk of what was once 3UI into dust and let it fall to the floor. She made sure everyone saw this.

" _Speaking of which, 1YA, 7SJ: resume the duties I have assigned to you. I have important matters to tend to outside of this facility. Yellow Diamond calls for me…"_

The two follower Peridots resumed their task without hesitation and 5XG left the station again. No one dared to say a word.

"WHY?!" Peridot bawled out, in agony over this memory and in pain from her burning-hot gem. "Why did you make me relive this?! What point are you even trying to make, you stupid Diamond?!"

White Diamond smirked. "You paid attention to all of the wrong details yet again, Twilight. Did you not wonder why your behavior is so… odd? How you can possibly act like you're above everyone when you know that's impossible… so long as you're a Peridot." She then noticed the glowing gem. "I see you've been thinking about it a bit, at least…"

Peridot sniffled. "I was just that dedicated to becoming one of her chosen gems…"

"You thought yourself as a diamond," White Diamond accused. "You've picked up all the movements… all the mannerisms, the way of speaking, the lines they most commonly use. But at this point in your life, you never met any of the Diamonds. You were never formally taught anything more than Yellow Diamond's basic details. You were barely given anything on Blue Diamond outside her name. Pink of course was a non-factor… and I was a forbidden topic to ever bring up. You inherently knew all of this, Twilight."

Peridot just rested the side of her head over her arms that rested over her knees. She was so tired of crying so often. "Just tell me already… what this all means. I-I'm burning up and I can't make it stop…"

"So stubborn that you hold yourself back on learning a truth you know will change your life forever," White Diamond mused. "As I previously stated, you are our Final Experiment. Like all the others, your injector fluid was tampered with… diamond dust."

That made Peridot look up with uncertainty and shock.

"Yes, that's right. The remains of our dried tears. Blue had by far been the largest supplier… on the odd occasion, Yellow would make her own. But I… I had a new experience when I did it for the first time. In case you are wondering, yes: the diamond dust played a crucial role in how your fellow heterochromia-induced test subjects developed their enhanced powers… and may or may not be the cause of their eventual insanity or breakdowns. But you, Twilight… you are unique. Not only are you our only experiment to receive _my_ diamond dust, but a diamond shard as well!"

" **WHAT?!** Th-there's a-" Peridot frantically felt at her gem, only to cry out as it was far too hot to touch. "N-no, there can't be… no no no no no, _why_ would you even–?!"

White Diamond smirked. "We had been saving this for a special project, but we forgot it existed for the longest time… until we forged ahead with preparing our final test subject. I honestly would have preferred putting that shard in a… more respectable type of gem, but it was either you, or the shard would go to waste. And we can't have that."

"Where did it even come from?!" Peridot wailed. She wanted to dispute this, but deep down she knew this had to be true. There was still a mirror shard floating, now not only showing her eyes, but the odd glow of her brightly-burning gem where a small yellow core in the center became distinct. "Diamonds are supposed to be immune to minor splintering!"

"Ah, that came from a silly instance that occurred several millennia before your emergence, Twilight. It's actually a story I shouldn't be telling you, but… well, your allegiance will become irrelevant soon enough. This was back when Pink was still in the family. Yellow had gotten a bit overzealous, as usual, and ah… let's just call it an "accident" that happened where Yellow ended up getting one of her fingers cut and cracked. She ended up losing a tiny shard of herself in the incident… it was quite unprecedented, that the Diamonds could actually be directly damaged…"

Peridot frowned; she didn't need to be told the full story. She had a pretty good idea what would have caused something like that… because she ended up inflicting very similar damage on Yellow Diamond herself with a certain hammer.

"Luckily, since we had Pink with us still, she could easily heal the wound, but could not put the shard back into place; that had to be created anew from her healing power. I placed the shard in a bottle for safekeeping… it started out as a little memento, but as time passed, I was curious about using it in our experiments. But I couldn't decide which gem to give it to… and in hindsight, thank the stars I did not choose Fluorite."

"I guess that would have made her powerful enough to wipe out the 20% of Homeworld gems left after her first wave," Peridot sarcastically remarked… though she likely wasn't too far off the mark.

White Diamond was a bit miffed that Peridot knew that story so well for being a late Era 2 creation, but she knew it couldn't be helped. The Fluorite incident was just too devastating to not be well known, even in the start of Era 3. "I suppose you are the result of my indecisiveness. But it works out nicely… I truly do wish to see if you, my Final Experiment, will succeed. Where past experiments have failed, you… you could make history if this works."

"If **what** works? Stop being so vague, you clod." Peridot herself had run out of patience with her captor.

"That fire in you…" White Diamond - or the reasonably sized proxy, anyway - leaned over to get a close look at Peridot… which the latter did _not_ appreciate. "It makes me believe this will work. You have the spirit embedded into your gemetic makeup! Like a seed, I will make it grow… it will bud, it will bloom… and the Diamond Authority will be restored!"

Now Peridot had caught on to what White Diamond implied; what she had been wanting all this time. "W-wait, are you saying… you're gonna grow a _Diamond_ out of me?!"

"Close… but I'm not _quite_ that cruel to my pet projects," White Diamond cooed, combing her fingers through Peridot's hair. "You, my Twilight… _you_ … will become history's first Diamond ascended from another gem! From history's lowest-regarded gem, no less!"

Peridot nearly felt herself shatter after hearing that. "Y-you're… you're gonna make me a–"

" _A new Diamond!"_

* * *

Elsewhere, in the vast depths of space, the Crystal Gems were on their ship formerly known as the PeriLuck, though it had received quite a few additions and upgrades over the past week. A 3-hour flight was cut down to 45 minutes, and the ship was much better equipped for maneuvering in case it gets attacked.

Inside, all 8 members of the Crystal Gems were anticipating their return to a place they never wanted to see in the first place. But this time, they were prepared… or as well-prepared as they could be, considering the circumstances. White Diamond was the only threat to deal with at this point… most of them were wishing Yellow and Blue were still around. No one could possibly prepare for a conflict with White Diamond - so much of her was a mystery, other than that she was balls-to-the-wall insane and a remorseless killer.

Pearl especially feared Homeworld itself might look nothing like how they left it. When they escaped the first time, Pearl could have sworn she saw a white spot gradually growing bigger before the planet was no longer in view. She feared that once again, Homeworld would be unrecognizable and impossible to navigate, even if they did have Peridot as a guide. Pearl especially didn't want to think about how many had been killed since they fled; if any Homeworld gems remained intact and sentient beyond their beloved Peridot. She didn't dare bring this up - she knew it would only throw Steven off his game.

"Hm… I think the hot cocoa's ready now," Greg suddenly said, inadvertently drawing everyone's attention to him. "I'd serve it, but…" Once again, Steven's father was the "chauffer", but he was much more knowledgeable of the ship's controls after taking the time to learn them over the six-day period.

"Don't worry about it; I'm on the case," Lapis assured as she got up from her seat and went straight for the heated thermos. "Anyone who wants some, take a cup," she instructed as she tossed out a stack up cups to the person nearest to her, Bismuth.

Bismuth wasn't sure what to make of this, considering their situation – actually, even disregarding the situation, Lapis seemed way too eager and peppy for this. She rarely showed such enthusiasm openly. "You sure are cheery," she remarked as she took a cup and passed the stack along to the other passengers. "What's your secret, Lapis?"

"–Oh, am I?" Lapis hadn't noticed. She looked rather self-conscious right now. "It's nothing, really…"

"You never struck me as a sweet beverage kind of gal, Laps," Amethyst noted while taking a cup. "Come on; you're way too into this to not have some kinda motive."

Lapis blushed; despite her embarrassment, she decided to share her secret as she used her power to draw the hot cocoa from the thermos and guide it over to gently pour into each cup. "Okay, well… I admit I'm a little curious. You see, in her message to me, Peridot really raved about this stuff."

Greg was very amused. " _Did_ she, now?"

"Ah, yeah… when she was telling me all the great things she learned about Earth," Lapis said, sounding a bit less happy now. "She really took me leaving her behind hard – you all probably know that better than I do. But Peridot was just as offended… or maybe even more so, that I abandoned your planet, and consequently all of you. Peridot tore into me because she was pissed on behalf of Earth itself. That was… something I'd never seen come from her before. So, I thought… considering where we're headed, maybe I should at least try this out while I still can. Maybe I'll start to understand Earth better and learn to love it like she does. Then I won't be so quick to run away again."

No one could be too hard on Lapis after hearing that.

"It's good that you're making an effort to understand Peridot, and Earth as well," Connie commended. "And it's good you're hearing it from her; she's really the only unbiased member of the team when it comes to Earth. The rest of us were either born there or lived there for thousands of years."

"Let it be known we would be happy to have you as an official part of our family," Garnet informed her. "Since the barn is beyond repair, you are more than welcome to stay with us at the Temple. I have already spoken to Bismuth about building additional rooms for our new teammates: Peridot deserves more than the bathroom, Bismuth is well overdue for a room of her own, and I believe Connie also expressed interest in having her own personal space."

Connie smiled. "Well, the temple is sort of my home-away-from-home at this point… and once I turn 18, I can officially move in if I want to… and even though that's still a few years away, I'm sure I'll still want to by then. I'll always want to do my part as a Crystal Gem."

"It'd be so cool to have you rooming with us!" Steven exclaimed. "All of you! We'll be a real big happy family together."

"Once we're through this, I'll definitely consider it… I promise," Lapis assured as she finished pouring the cocoa for everyone. "For now, let's just see if this stuff is as good as Dot made it out to be."

"I promised Peridot it would perk her up the first time around," Greg told the group as he took a sip of his cup. "She was pretty surprised when she found out I was right about that. Ever since then, she's wanted it every time she talked to me."

Everyone took a drink by that point. Of course, Connie and Steven loved it as they always have, Amethyst was perfectly fine with it as per usual. But for the gems who rarely (if ever) consumed… even they cracked a smile.

"Goodness… it almost shatters me to admit it, but I can see why Peridot went out of her way to promote this," Pearl, of all people, confessed.

Bismuth was more than happy to agree. "Mm-mmm! I think I could take mine a little hotter, but that's no surprise to y'all. This is good enough; I'd best not get all your mouths scalded on my account."

A few teammates shared a good chuckle at that remark.

"It's good to have something comforting before a dangerous mission," Garnet said wistfully. "This hot cocoa does live up to its hype."

Finally, Lapis partook in her own share… and found she enjoyed it very much. She instantly felt cheered up after savoring its sweetness. "Thank you for telling me about this, Peridot. I'm gonna tell you in person how good it is very soon."

Amethyst thought of something just then. "Hey, uh… I know we're almost there and all, but… what're we gonna name this ship now? Didn't you say it was bad luck for a ship to not have a name, Greg?"

"Holy smokes, you're right." Greg completely forgot about this detail. "I get that the last name is in poor taste right now… but has anyone thought of a new name? We should probably give this something meaningful; not the first thing that comes to mind."

It seemed everyone else forgot to think of a new name as well due to being hard at work with their various tasks preparing for this mission. After enough time passed to make it apparent no one had an idea to suggest, one person stepped up.

"Peridot's Love," Steven said with certainty. "The Loving Peridot. She made it clear, didn't she? In her messages… Peridot made it clear that she loves every single one of us. Now we, her loved ones, are gonna save her. Because we love her, too."

Everyone looked to Steven and smiled; a few had to resist shedding any tears.

"So…" Lapis spoke up. She had a sly look on her face, but that was mostly to resist looking shiny-eyed and sappy as her teammates. "I guess for short we could call it the… PeriLove?"

Steven looked to Lapis and smiled. "Yeah… yeah, I think that'd be great. I just know in my heart that's what this ship's real name is. It was designed by Peridot… she and Bismuth built it out of love for all of us captured on Homeworld. That's why this ship exists in the first place."

"I couldn't have put it better myself," Garnet remarked, giving her full support of Steven's decision. "I will like to see her reaction when she finds out what her ship's true name is…"

"Heh, yeah," Amethyst agreed. She also tried too hard to shield her sentimentality for her favorite little gem. "Good thing I didn't speak up, then. I was gonna call it the Stevidot."

While Steven blushed like crazy, knowing the implication of what that name meant, he laughed along with his friends, Amethyst included, on that would-be suggestion.

In the distance, a small speck of light came into view, and it was soon apparent this was a planet – the planet they would return to: Homeworld. Once everyone could make out the details, they were stunned by its appearance.

"I had a feeling it was going to look like this if we came back," Pearl uttered. "I thought I saw that bleaching effect start to consume the planet when we fled from it… I hoped I was just seeing things. This truly is White Diamond's domain – her _true_ Homeworld."

Bismuth was heartbroken seeing this. "After we saw how many gems she infected while we were still there… y'all think there might be any still left we could even save besides Peri?"

"Just because the whole planet looks like this doesn't mean everyone on Homeworld is infected," Connie pointed out. "If Peridot's okay, and she's gotta be due to being White's leverage over us, then there might be some survivors. Since we couldn't find a cure in a week, I'm not feeling too good about the chances about the pallid gems ever recovering."

"It could be as Blue and Yellow told us before," Garnet reminded. "That only White could truly cure them, just as she is the only alleged cure for the corrupted gems on Earth. I wish we knew how to extract that from her… it would be foolish to ask her to perform such a benevolent act now."

"Especially since we have no leverage of our own," Lapis added. "We're on her turf now, and we've got nothing on White Diamond to use to our advantage. If we find any gems who haven't been infected yet, maybe we should… I don't know, poof them, then send them back home?"

Steven smiled at Lapis. "I think that would be for the best. They'd be a lot safer on Earth than Homeworld right now; they deserve a chance to be free just as you and Peridot did."

"We'll make sure to do that, then," Garnet decided. "Provided that they aren't too much of a threat, we can release them when we come home with Peridot. It could be more problematic abandoning them, since White Diamond could always infect them later on to give us more obstacles to clear."

"I wish I had made more of that serum; I didn't even consider the possibility of survivors on Homeworld," Pearl lamented. "At least all of us are immunized now. I did bring an extra syringe of the vaccine for Peridot… just in case."

"Let's just remember rescuing Dottie-P is our real goal here," Amethyst pointed out in a rare instance of maturity and seriousness. "If we find survivors, awesome. But I don't think we should stick around the planet any longer than we totally have to. I'm already getting a really bad vibe from this place."

Steven's optimistic expressions sobered down to a stern and focused serious look. "Amethyst's right. I wanna save as many lives as I can and make sure no one else has to die, but… Peridot's always gotta come first." The young teen closed his eyes while his body shivered on reflex once he got an even better look of the new Homeworld. "It's like how she told me back then… I can't always get what I want. And bad things… they're just gonna happen whether I like it or not. That's how life is… no matter where you're from."

* * *

Right now, Peridot never before desired more than to just get what she wanted than she did right at this moment.

She was strung high up; wrists and ankles bound with white-hot energy that threatened to give the gem an agonizing jolt that wouldn't poof her if she attempted to escape the bindings. White Diamond – presumably the real White Diamond, given how much larger she was now, hovered nearby her captive.

"Yellow's shard has been embedded deep into your gemstone since your emergence," White Diamond stated with a disturbing level of relishing delight. "As has my diamond dust. Normally, it would take hundreds of years for the components to condense into a pure, new diamond… luckily for you, I can easily induce a premature germination and accelerate its growth. You should be thanking me, Twilight. You shall ascend higher than any gem since the birth of our universe, and you shall have that honor now. I do not understand your insistence to resist me now, of all times."

"Y-you're gonna erase my whole existence just so you can get a new Diamond out of the deal?!" Peridot shouted; her voice full of anger, fear, and sorrow. "A-and you don't even know for certain it'll work the way you wanted! I-I'm not sacrificing my identity for some two-bit hunk of rock like you! You clods tried to keep me from even having an identity in the first place; now that I have one, I'm never giving it up! _Especially_ to you!"

White Diamond smirked as she inched closer to the comparatively miniature gem before her. "Must you be so dramatic, Twilight? As a Diamond – _especially_ a Diamond with your area of specialty – you can have it both ways. You will be the only Era 2 gem to possess Era 1 capabilities and more. Should you desire an ability, you will have it as soon as you like. It is beyond me why you would ever choose to revert to your pitiful Peridot state once you ascend, but you will be both entities at once. You were a Peridot when you emerged, but you _always_ had the soul of a Diamond. It's useless to deny that; you were perplexed by your own bizarre past behavior – the Diamond part of you that screamed to break out from the oppressive clutches of your lowly gem rank. There's no mystery about it; you _will_ ascend."

Peridot glared at the massive Diamond before her; the face she had been terrified of for over a week now no longer made her so fearful, though she wasn't sure why. She felt so determined to prove White wrong about literally everything she said.

"Y-you said it's all based on what I want, right? Maybe I don't want to become a Diamond at all! I-if I'm as powerful as you're implying, I can just reject whatever you do to me! I'll keep it up for eternity if I have to; it's not like I'm going anywhere!"

It amused White Diamond to see Peridot so convinced of herself that Pink Diamond and the others would not come for her eventually. She already gathered that Peridot went out of her way to discourage everyone in her life to ever come rescue her, but White knew better. She knew Pink was far too compassionate to even let one beloved friend be left behind.

"We shall see when I put you to the test, Twilight," White announced. "If you are so certain your powers are developed enough, that is. Mind you, your limitations as a Peridot imposed a rather low glass ceiling on your potential. You'll thank me when I break that ceiling for you…"

With that, the almost-blindingly bright gemstone embedded in White Diamond's forehead made direct contact with Peridot's gemstone, and the helpless gem screamed out as a surge of white energy rushed through her body, making it glow. Peridot couldn't move; there was no way to break this contact. This entire time, her gemstone had still been burning brightly, giving Peridot a splitting headache. White Diamond's direct contact made it felt like a drill had pierced her head that dug deeper and deeper as time went on.

The scenery shifted; black enveloped the white as Peridot felt like she was drifting in the void of space bound to this giant maniac. Suddenly, her limbs were freed for reasons unexplained, but all the kicking and pushing in the word couldn't break the contact between gemstones. Peridot groaned as it indeed felt like in the fiery inferno that was her forehead, something did seem to be growing bigger within her sensitive gemstone.

"Blue was the Diamond of Emotion…" White's voice echoed throughout Peridot's immediate area. "Yellow, the Diamond of Law and Order. Pink – she is the Diamond of Life. As for myself… the Diamond of Omniscience; the Diamond of All. But without emotion; without law or order, we need a means of balancing the Diamond Authority if we are to continue with the new regime."

" _I don't care–!"_

"For this single moment, your consent is irrelevant," White's voice replied. The White in the process of developing the diamond within had never once moved her mouth. It must have been one of her many proxies taking over while the real deal concentrated. "You are the only one who can step up to fill in for Yellow and Blue. You should be happy, Twilight; you seem to get on so well with Pink, and the three of us will happily rule this galaxy for all time."

"And I say you're a _liar!_ " Peridot cried out as she feebly used her arms to try and push White's gemstone away. It was burning hot to touch, but Peridot was already in pain, anyway. She made herself keep her hands pushed against the Diamond messing with her body. Every fiber of her being was devoted to resisting White Diamond's power, and something had to be working, because she hadn't yet instantly changed.

The imagery shifted; in addition to the touching gemstones, Peridot's hands had shifted to pushing against a blade of solid white energy – just as burning hot as her forehead – that was held right up against her neck. Peridot felt not only the burn, but a wide cut in her fingers so deep, it felt like it was drawing out fluid similar to how a human in her situation would bleed. Superfluid light oozed from her hard-light corporeal form, and it was one of the most horrific sensations Peridot had ever felt. But Peridot knew she couldn't let that blade reach her neck; she knew White Diamond was after control of at least one percentage of her free will.

If Peridot let the blade reach her neck, she knew in her heart she might as well be one of millions of White Diamond's pallid drones. She _couldn't_ let her body surrender like this; she knew one wrong move would make her lose everything. The one single advantage she had over White Diamond would disappear forever.

"G-go ahead, cut my fingers off if you have to!" Peridot blurted out through her tears, which evaporated rather quickly in close proximity to two very heated sources touching her body. "I'll just block you with my forearms! And if you cut them off, I'll just lower my head! I know you won't slice my head off, White! I'm never gonna let you win! I will never, _ever_ let you defeat me!"

Despite her bold claims, Peridot felt so helpless; she had no idea how much longer she could hold out in this struggle. Certainly not forever as she boasted. She hated being alone; she's hated it ever since she discovered the comfort of being around people who cared about her. But right now, she was completely alone with a sociopath who wanted to use her body as a husk for a new Diamond. She had something to prove – that this alleged "all-powerful" Diamond couldn't break an Era 2 Peridot. Ever since she was apprehended, that had been the case. Peridot outsmarted White Diamond at every turn and was only brought out from her gemstone because the Diamond lost her patience and cheated. She couldn't make Peridot give her even an ounce of respect. It was a good thing no one was around to witness any of this, or White Diamond would be much more furious than she already was. She masked that anger well, but a scenario like this was proof that Peridot had nearly broken White Diamond with her own willful defiance.

Suddenly, the pain of the burning headache literally felt splitting, as White's machinations had brought the yellow diamond shard not only into its budding state as its own true diamond but had moved high enough to pierce through the layers of peridotite it had long since been buried beneath. It had risen to a point where it started to breach the top layer and experience fresh air for the first time ever. Naturally, with a cavity that size inside the lime green gem that was also on the verge of being cut out, Peridot felt herself destabilize; she was on the verge of shattering. She held firm against the blade nearing her neck, but her entire form was subject to frequent glitching.

"Y-you're gonna _shatter_ me b-before you ever see me become a Diamond! Y-you really are the stupidest Diamond in all e-existence, White!"

White was a bit annoyed, but she couldn't contest the complaint. A single finger from her free hand pressed against Peridot's gemstone; a bright white shine seeped through the cracks being caused by the diamond's emergence to bind the gem that housed the shard for almost 14 years. The white diamond dust already inside the gemstone reacted accordingly to this light to ensure a shattering would be prevented. Unbeknownst to Peridot, and not understood by White Diamond, was a subtle pink aura that seemed to be restoring the gem hosting the diamond. It filled the cavities made by the diamond's development and movement with fresh peridotite and helped White's binding light keep Peridot's gem together and her body stable. Peridot let out a sigh of relief in that moment, but it didn't weaken her resolve at all. If anything, it was stronger than ever now. Peridot, despite her deeply near-severed fingers, seemed to be pushing the blade further away from her neck. White wasn't sure where this second wind came from, but it annoyed her further to see a Peridot, of all gems, resist her so easily in every possible way.

At the very least, the pink aura made it easier for the diamond to be properly "harvested", as it took a full proper diamond shape while growing. It was in its blooming phase now, refitting itself into the center of Peridot's gemstone. Once the development was complete, both entities shined brightly, bringing a stabbing pain to Peridot's mind while the stones became as one. There was still a clear distinction from the peridotite and the new diamond that shined a brilliant greenish-yellow (or was it yellowish-green…?) color – but the two pieces had become completely inseparable now.

"You have _bloomed_ , my Twilight!"

Peridot grumbled tiredly in response. The worst of it was finally over. Finally, the burning sensation in her forehead wore off and White Diamond leaned her head away from her captive's. She still struggled to slice at Peridot with the blade of energy, but even she barely paid attention to that detail now that she could gaze in awe at the birth of a new Diamond. It was relieving for Peridot to see she was still very much herself in spite of the diamond being successfully grown out of her… but now she was uncertain what was next.

"Now, all that remains is for you to accept your fate," White Diamond squealed with anticipation. "Simply give in to your desires, and you will be reborn!"

"Oh yeah?" Peridot grunted as she still pushed against the blade nearing her neck. "What if my desire is to _see you shattered immediately?!_ "

White Diamond smirked. "You aren't _quite_ that in control of your power yet, Twilight. Especially since you've yet to truly use it. Besides, you and I both know that isn't your greatest desire. It surely is high up on your list, but it isn't what you desire above all else…"

Peridot growled at such presumptiveness. _"You don't know anything about me, you stupid idiot! Stop pretending you do! And_ _ **stop trying to behead me!**_ _"_

She didn't care if White Diamond could see into her mind and drag out her memories. Peridot knew this Diamond didn't truly know her. It was shown on many occasions that White Diamond was oblivious to who Peridot was after Homeworld.

"Come now, dear. It would be horribly counter-productive of me to actually do that to you. You'll understand soon enough this is to your benefit, once you finally stop resisting." White Diamond appeared content to watch Peridot struggle until the end of time now, and that in of itself was bewildering. Still, Peridot couldn't dwell on that for too long; sparing any concentration outside of keeping the blade away from her neck was just a means for White Diamond to push back and make Peridot lose any ground she had gained against her during the gem's second wind.

"Y-you're not gonna break me," Peridot declared; her voice nearly cracking from how loud she had been and the screams of pain that came with bringing out the diamond that Peridot couldn't even see right now. "I'm stronger than you! I _know_ I am; if you were as almighty as you claim to be, you'd have your new Diamond _ages_ ago!"

White Diamond suddenly rushed to get right in Peridot's face again; her temper seemed tried. "You really don't know when to stop running your mouth, do you? Stars alive, if I had not perused through your memories, I would have no idea how you've survived as long as you have. I suppose some of that can be attributed to your age… you've not been alive long enough to know any better, because my dust and Yellow's shard has simply made it too easy for you. But the more I listen to you, the more you remind me of how _frustrating_ Pink is."

"W-would you shut **up** about Pink Diamond, already?!" Peridot growled out. "I couldn't care less about her! I know you're _far_ too idiotic to understand this concept, but Steven _is not Pink Diamond!_ That's his maternal unit! The gem is the same but was held by two completely different entities! The Pink you knew died the moment Steven was born! Based off from the laws of physics I learned right here on Homeworld, two copies of the same gem with identical codes and cuts are supposed to be physically impossible! Tell me, at least, that **that** law isn't some fabrication you Diamonds made!"

White Diamond narrowed her eyes at Peridot. "The law is very much factual and applies to all of gemkind. There cannot be two copies of a Diamond such as myself, just as there cannot be an identical twin of a mere Peridot such as yourself. It should never even be attempted; a paradox like that could ruin all of space and time, which of course is the only reason why I have not bothered to attempt it."

Peridot rolled her eyes. She was getting the hang of banter with White Diamond while keeping that ever-menacing energy blade away from her neck. "You've basically nuked your whole planet now, haven't you? I wouldn't put it past you, White. You're cracked enough to entertain the thought of universal genocide."

White Diamond flashed a wicked smile at her captive. "Perhaps, when I've done all there is to do in this universe. But that's several millennia away, and now I have a special little friend in you who–"

A loud sound cut the Diamond off; it was the sound of a heavy door being bashed open.

Peridot looked confused as to why White suddenly cut herself off over something like that. When the smile disappeared and in its place was a gaping mouth paired with a very shocked expression, Peridot couldn't help but raise her brow at the Diamond.

" _White Diamond! Surrender now and tell me where Per–… PERIDOT IS?!_ _ **PERIDOT!**_ _"_

Deep down, Peridot knew he wouldn't listen to her pleas. He wouldn't respect her sacrifice.

" _Peridot, are you okay?! H-hold on, I'm gonna get you out of there right now! We're all going home together this time!"_

But Peridot couldn't bring herself to be angry about that right now. Tears welled up in her eyes; a genuine, quivering smile spread across her face. She knew that voice anywhere. But that wasn't enough; Peridot had been a tortured prisoner for so long, she needed to see _him_. She eagerly craned her neck back to see the human boy who once again became her savior.

"STEVEN–…"

Peridot barely got his full name out, and just got a second-long glimpse of the teen himself before realizing far too late the grave mistake she made.

For all the times Steven Universe had been Peridot's means of keeping herself together mentally, to give her the strength to move forward when times got tough, this time… for the first time in her life, Steven had become her weakness.

She took her focus off that energy blade just a second too long.

Luminous liquid sprayed down her body. Peridot's vision blurred; it almost seemed like Steven himself started to flicker out of existence after witnessing the scene before him in horror. A howling cackle was the last thing Peridot heard; no doubt White Diamond's. That's all she could process before the shock of the cut fully overtook her, and everything faded to black.

* * *

" _Peridot...? PERIDOT! Oh, y-you really are waking up! Thank goodness!"_

Black faded to an overwhelmingly all-gray atmosphere. The first thing Peridot saw upon waking up was what she last saw after White Diamond sliced her neck: Steven, though he was much closer to her now.

"Wha… what…? This isn't…" Peridot focused on her surroundings again; this was unfamiliar territory, and it was now apparent that Steven was by her side, gently holding her up. "This isn't where I was… and I–"

She froze as her hand instinctively went up to feel across her neck. No cut was felt; her hands were fine, as if they were never nearly cleaved in two halves by a menacing energy blade. No gem equivalent of blood was present, either. Peridot looked to Steven again. It seemed to come together now. "Y-you revived me, didn't you…?"

Steven gave her a smile, but he was clearly unhappy about something. _"Sorry; I really want to say that's what happened, but you know I can't lie to you, Peri. The good news is… your neck is fine, and you never died. White Diamond just needed to shock you into losing consciousness. She couldn't do it with brute force, so… just like how she drew you out of your gemstone, White cheated by using me to distract you, so you'd believe under the right conditions that she really did kill you. She still can't believe how long you held out against that blade."_

That brought down Peridot's hopes for the best-case scenario, but gently so. "Oh… so she got me. Guess I couldn't hold out forever… but Steven, please please please don't blame yourself, okay? I let myself get distracted by you; you were just saving me. I was so sure I'd never see you again, a-and… whatever situation we're in right now, I don't care. You're with me now, so I know we'll… we'll get through this somehow." She had the strength to sit up on her own, and moments after doing so, Peridot grabbed Steven by the collar of his shirt and pulled him down for a kiss. This time, she was doing it purely for sentimental purposes. She didn't care if the situation called for it or not; after a week of enduring White Diamond – and she had no idea it had even been a week in real time. It felt even longer than that for her; Peridot was in desperate need for some peace and self-indulgence. Steven didn't mind giving Peridot that, but the gem sensed something was amiss when she realized after five straight minutes that Steven's human limitations hadn't forced them to break. Reluctantly, she broke their union, now certain something wasn't right about this picture when the very shy and flattered Steven was not even remotely winded.

"Steven… there's something you're not telling me."

" _I-I'm sorry…"_ Steven looked down and away from Peridot; his strained, amorous blush now becoming one of shame. _"I just wanted you to be able to enjoy yourself for just a little bit; you've been suffering for a really long time all by yourself. 'Cause once you know everything, I'm afraid you're gonna hate me, and… and you'll be nothing but miserable and in pain."_

While the implications of the truth worried Peridot greatly, she made sure to hold Steven close and refocus his face back to her. "Listen to me: it's _impossible_ for me to hate you, Steven. You're… you're _everything_ to me, okay? I'd subject myself to this torture over and over again until the end of time if it kept you safe and away from that maniac. Y-you must have seen that really embarrassing video log I left you…"

That's when Steven flinched and couldn't help but look as awkward as he felt about the situation. _"A-about that… Peridot, I gotta be straight with you right now: I'm not really Steven. I'm sorry. I really, really, really wish I was, but… I'm not. I'll never be."_

That wasn't something Peridot expected to hear; it was even harder for her to accept. "B-but, you–! You sound just like him! You look like Steven, you act like Steven–"

" _That's because you know Steven really well, Peri. It's why I seem so authentic; all I am is… is your idealized interpretation of Steven. The one who's been in place of the real Steven in all your daydreams. Since you started having those, I kinda, um… I've gotten to be the strongest part of your subconscious."_

"Th-then… then…" Peridot almost broke down then and there. "B-but that was really me out there when she sliced my neck, right?! How did she–"

" _White Diamond had a lot of time to learn about you while you stayed in your gemstone, Peri. She told you that herself. This entire time, she knew she could use your love for Steven against you – she just needed the right time to play that card. Getting you to where you are now was that moment, because any minute now, White's gonna have the new Diamond she wants so bad. As much as I've enjoyed seeing you antagonize White Diamond of all people – because she totally deserves it – you just made her that more determined to hit you where it hurts the most. And where it hurts most for you is… well, Steven. She wasn't gonna pass up the opportunity to get back at you for all the things she had to let you get away with saying to her. So, she ripped me out of your head and controlled me to act like I was the real Steven who came just in time to rescue you. You had to have suspected something was up with me by now, Peridot. I'm pretty sure you saw me fade out of existence right before you passed out."_

"I saw you flicker, I think," Peridot recalled. "But I thought I was seconds away from death by that point. After consuming so much of your Earth's media, Steven, I've come to learn there are many different interpretations to what people see, hear, or feel right before they die. It's something humans have studied a lot, obviously… no gem had curiosities like that on Homeworld. Still, I don't want you blaming yourself for my current situation, Steven. If I made you, then in the end, it's still my own fault for letting myself fall for her trick."

" _You don't have to call me Steven to spare my feelings, Peri,"_ the imaginary Steven assured. _"I've accepted what I am. Besides, as of right now, I've been to more places and done lots more stuff with you than the real deal has. So I still have that to hold over him for a good while. I, uh… don't think you should have lied to him in your message about your daydreams, though…"_

Peridot groaned, as she knew exactly what her interpretation of Steven was talking about. "Look, I've accepted that I'm probably never gonna see Steven again. As well I shouldn't; I won't forgive him _or_ myself if he really tries to come save me now! For all intents and purposes, you're the closest thing I have to a Steven in my life from now on. So… Steven you are. And mind your own business about what I said to him!" She blushed, despite her attempts to suppress it. "I meant it when I said I couldn't wrap my head around that one. It's still really uncomfortable to imagine what _any_ of those kids look like for real; you know they _were_ just blurry little monsters when I conjured that fantasy. Seeing myself as a maternal unit really is the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life, a-and… the fantasy didn't go on **that** much longer past the point where I swore to him it ended!"

" _Hah! Yeah, only 'cause you couldn't figure it out in your own imagination how that would play out if I was that much taller than you."_ The idealized Steven chuckled at that. _"You should've just imagined yourself being my size like you are now. Dreams don't always have to make logical sense, y'know. Or be realistic…"_

"Wow… yeah, you're definitely my Steven construct instead of _the_ Steven construct," Peridot muttered as she gave the figment of her imagination a pointed look before letting out a resigned sigh. "So, since you're the product of my imagination and how I perceive Steven, I suppose that means it's pointless to even ask you about anything else regarding the current situation. I assume I'm locked within my own subconscious with you…"

" _I'm definitely not gonna know anything outside of that realm that you don't already, so if the real Steven's on his way, I wouldn't know any better than you do. I saw some stuff after you passed out but before White dismissed me, so I should make sure you know absolutely everything I know. And yeah, you're pretty much stuck in your own imagination with me right now. I'm not gonna say it's impossible to break out and regain control of your body, but you've literally only been in here a few minutes and White Diamond's waited way too long for you to let your guard down to just make it that easy for you to come back when she's so close to seeing her new Diamond. I think she's just taking advantage of the conscious Peri who's no longer 100% of herself. So long as you're in here, you won't be able to resist her like you've been doing all this time. And I know you wanna go right back out there just to spite her, but… hear me out, okay?"_

Peridot looked up at the closest thing she had to the love of her life and smiled sadly at him. "I can tell you're worried about me, you know," she pointed out. "And I'd be lying to say I think I have the strength to keep up what I've been doing before she finally got me. I've had to stay on full alert for… I don't even know how long…"

" _A few days minimum by my estimate,"_ her Steven said, now ironically sounding more like his creator. _"Maybe even a week… which does seem like too long the real Steven would be willing to wait before trying to rescue you again. The Crystal Gems are either crazy-prepared or they actually listened to you when you begged them all to abandon you here. I really wanna think it's the former. But as far as the here and now is concerned, I'm worried you really won't survive if you try to free yourself this soon. You need rest, Peri… White Diamond hasn't let you have any of that, and for all we know, she might not necessarily need this small part of you alive anymore now that she's getting what she wants. You've held out directly against a Diamond probably longer than anyone in history ever has. I think you should try and break out again, but only when I know you're fully rested."_

"Shoot… I'm so used to talking to a stupidly positive Steven who just rushes in headlong to solve his problems," Peridot grumbled in a fond tone. "Because you're making sense and I can't argue anything you're saying. These are legitimately valid points. But it kills me to just give up so easily like this…"

" _You're not giving up,"_ the Steven interpretation corrected. _"It's a tactical retreat, right? Live to fight another day. And I wanna make this up to you. Even if I didn't have a choice in how I was used to trap you here to begin with, I still feel responsible. So let me help you recover, Peridot. I can't heal like the real Steven, but I can heal you in other ways."_

Peridot stifled a laugh before looking fondly over to her vision of Steven. "Wow, that's a nice elaborate way of saying you wanna get in my pants!" She snickered louder when that statement made the faux Steven blush profusely. Just to reassure him, Peridot made a point to lean her head against his shoulder. "Hey, now. You know I need something to laugh about after what's happened. If you're so sure that you can heal me back to full strength, I'll let you call the shots just as soon as we pick up where we left off."

She knew she should have expected a deep kiss in response by her idealized Steven, but any kind of Steven being this forward would always surprise her a little… at least it was in a good way, after all the nasty surprises Peridot had suffered through for the past week. With a sigh, Peridot gave in to her fantasy to let her body and mind finally start to heal.

* * *

"Is it not true you've loathed being what you emerged as all your life?"

A much more insecure, vulnerable, and gullible Peridot looked down and nodded. "Who would ever _want_ to be a Peridot? Even the Peridots wish they weren't Peridots. I've been around enough of them to know that. It's even worse when you're Era 2; then you're subject to ridicule even by your Era 1 counterparts."

There was no visible damage to the conscious Peridot; her neck was fine, there were no deep gashes in her hands, and not a drop of superfluid light was in sight. In a stark contrast to how the lowly gem regarded the ruler of her birth planet before losing their battle, she was now kneeling before White Diamond and seemed to have fully accepted defeat.

"We're responsible for keeping Homeworld running as well as it has since its foundation, but we're never appreciated for it. No one acknowledges our hand in making your planet what it is today. No one has even thanked us. We're only looked down upon, as if we don't deserve to exist alongside the gems we work long and hard to serve. To make _their_ lives better."

White Diamond smirked; while her victim remained a bit dodgy and stubborn at times, it was now much easier to take advantage of Peridot's other weak points. All she needed to do was seal away just a smidge of that ego and determination to keep the host from summoning the indomitable force that enabled Peridot to resist the Diamond as long as she had. They could have been locked in a stalemate for years for all White Diamond knew; she was fortunate to have perfectly timed playing her trump card. Peridot needed to be knocked down a peg, anyway. White knew the nature of the power Peridot could wield once she ascended could prove dangerous even to her down the road if she didn't have some degree of control over the gem. Now it was secured, and she could coax Peridot to follow through with the final step.

"And it fostered your contempt for all of gemkind to this day, did it not?" White Diamond enjoyed leading the conversation but was disappointed with Peridot's answer.

"There are plenty of gems I hate," Peridot affirmed. "Rightly so. But they can't hurt me anymore; there's no point in letting that hatred fester inside me. I know for a fact there are good gems in the world worth getting to know and protect. I'm not mad that Steven and the others haven't saved me… I explicitly told them _not_ to do it. So I'm glad I don't have to worry about you hurting them because of me."

"But you understand with no hope of rescue, that means this planet is now your home again," White Diamond coldly pointed out. "You are under my roof, so to speak. Yet you have this opportunity to be equal to me, and you still hesitate to take advantage of it. What holds you back? Why do you want to _stay_ a pathetic Peridot?"

Peridot bit her lip and absolutely could not look White Diamond in the eyes. "Honestly, I'm afraid. Understand that I lived my life as a gem who was never meant to wield any kind of power unless I had limb enhancers. A Diamond's power is limitless and eternal. There are graphic novels I've read on Earth some time ago that have a very poignant theme to them: with great power comes great responsibility. I can't promise I'll be responsible with my power, because I've never really known what it's like to truly have it. I'm just now learning how to make good utility of the metal powers I have. U-um, White Diamond, are those a byproduct of the experiment? I've noticed all Peridots on record in your databases have never developed such powers; not even the Era 1 models."

"It must be a direct side effect, yes," White Diamond agreed. The power of controlling metal was an understandable concern for the brittle gem, but so long as she maintained control on the wielder, she would have nothing to worry about. "Or should I say, merely a branch stemming from your true power. It was where your potential began to take form; in your most desperate moment, you made it exist because you wanted it that badly; you had something you cherished that you wanted to save by any means necessary. By taking this step, your power of desire will extend to everything else. You will never have to worry about losing control of your powers, because you can make yourself ready. In the unlikely event something does go wrong, I will be there to make sure nothing of consequence happens, because I can neutralize it."

It concerned Peridot that she couldn't really think to herself whether or not it was the right call to go through with this. Every time she tried to think deeply on the matter, she had to pull back because she inexplicably kept thinking about what she wished she could do with Steven if he really had been here to save her. It was very awkward and embarrassing, but she couldn't let herself indulge in a fantasy along with her subconscious with a judgmental White Diamond right in front of her. Yet, based on those desires, Peridot was compelled to ask a very silly and selfish question.

"I'd grow, right? I wouldn't be a scrawny little brat anymore?"

"As a Diamond would," White Diamond assured with a nod. "And you will become a most radiant beauty. All the easier to make yourself irresistible to those around you. Are you finally understanding how much you stand to gain from this, at the expense of no one else?"

Peridot fidgeted; she felt incredibly compelled to go through with this. Fully under the impression that she would never be able to leave Homeworld again and unable to fully utilize her rationality to determine whether or not White Diamond was playing her, there really seemed to be no other choice.

One what-if lingered in Peridot's mind. "What if I was able to see my friends again? I-I don't think they'd accept me like that… they'd think I was a traitor for giving in."

White gently patted Peridot's head. "Twilight, I told you this already: with your area of expertise, you do not have to leave one form for the other. For whatever unfathomable reason should you want to revert to your original form, you can do so with ease. You are free to choose your identity for certain situations… or certain sentients."

Peridot touched her forehead, and for the first time truly felt the diamond fused into her original gemstone. She didn't lose her identity as Peridot at all; White actually told the truth for once. She felt her body start to shake with nervousness and anticipation. At this point, Peridot could find no more reasons to stall on her decision. In the end, she was still curious. She still sought out power, so she wouldn't be so helpless in a conflict. What she was about to agree to would forever be exclusive to her; no other gem would ever experience this sensation. Steven never truly ascended; he had been a Diamond all along and simply didn't find out his true identity until recently. Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG would go down in history as not only the first ascended gem, but the gem who made the greatest leap in terms of her evolution. One couldn't be lower than an Era 2 Peridot, after all.

Such notoriety filled the hole in Peridot's ego that had been sealed away into her subconscious.

"Fine… _fine_. I'll do it. I can't justify delaying the inevitable any longer," Peridot confessed, looking as defeated as she felt.

White Diamond briefly grinned widely before looking gentle and supportive of her pet project.

"At last! Now, close your eyes and concentrate as I speak to you. Focus on your diamond."

Peridot obeyed; judging by what little she had seen of the true Homeworld, it was clear she didn't really have much to live for now, anyway. If White was being honest about her potential, Peridot stood a chance to make a better life for herself… and perhaps others down the line. In a matter of seconds, her yellow-green diamond started to dimly glow.

"In the twilight of an endeavor spanning across several millennia, after countless failures and tragic limited successes, at long last it has yielded a success that will stand for all time. An unprecedented event; the birth of a new Diamond, and the birth of a new Diamond Authority is upon us!" As White Diamond threw her arms up in celebration, Peridot's diamond lit up the area very quickly and flashed, as if it was a warning sign for an impending event. "In the name of White Diamond, the Diamond of Omniscience and All Creation, I awaken thee… **the Diamond of Will!** "

A consuming light exploded from the diamond which quickly devoured Peridot's body. Moments before, the gem's corporeal form had already had a bright aura around it, and it appeared as if Peridot's shape was about to shift in a manner similar to how other gems appear in the midst of attempting fusion. A blinding white light covered up any details as to what was happening, but Peridot felt every bit of each segment of her change. Unlike White inducing a premature growth of her diamond, this was not painful at all. It was exhilarating. And for the first time in Peridot's life, she could feel true power coursing through her entire being… and it truly was _her_ power. In her subconscious safe haven, the sealed Peridot felt the power of the transition surge through her body. Her imaginary Steven could only look on in awe as the gem who everyone saw as a child developed and matured drastically.

The light finally faded; White Diamond could already tell she had succeeded even before Peridot's new form became visible.

"At long last… my Twilight has realized her destiny. It is my honor to finally meet you…"

A smirk formed on the new Diamond's plump lips.

"Call me Chartreuse Diamond… my _equal_."

* * *

It had only been a few minutes since the Crystal Gems landed on the bleached and desolate Homeworld, and Steven already felt a cold chill run down his spine. He could have sworn he picked up a trace of present-day Peridot's feelings through his empath ability, but it was so brief and indecipherable, he couldn't justify bothering the others about it. It gave him no indication as to where she could be, anyway. Steven just couldn't shake the initial feeling of that being Peridot's final cry for help before something abruptly severed their connection permanently.

"Now I'm glad I never left the ship last time I was here," Greg remarked as he prepped the PeriLove's defenses. Pearl had managed to give the man an even wider variety of defensive options, as he would again remain on the ship to secure their getaway, but he needed to step outside to properly apply the cloaking device that would hide the ship from enemy eyes. "This planet is downright _creepy_. No wonder you all ran away from home… I'd have done the exact same thing."

In a nice, respectful touch, Greg was given a proper uniform. Amethyst had the man fitted for one that came straight out of a sci-fi TV series, so now he looked like a proper pilot as well as a fellow Crystal Gem.

"It was never that pleasant even when it did have color to it," Lapis admitted. "But now it feels more… dead than it ever has before."

Bismuth looked around and frowned. They had the ship landed a bit outside the city limits this time around. With an invisibility cloak and virtually no signs of life in sight on this area of the planet, it seemed to be the safest place for the PeriLove to be. Everyone knew the terminals they landed in last time would be teeming with an army of pallid gems; the last thing the Crystal Gems needed was White Diamond knowing where their means of escape was.

"Last time we landed here, there was a fair bit of air traffic," she recalled. "And Peri said that was when traffic was at its lightest. We've not come across a single aircraft since we entered Homeworld's atmosphere."

"It's as I feared," Pearl agreed. "Most of the gems have already been made pallid. No one's doing anything besides what White expressly wants them to do. I wonder if she's still expecting us after all this time…"

Garnet shook her head. "She must be; the only reason she would keep Peridot intact is to lure Steven back here. I wonder if she is as aware as we are that even after all the preparations and planning we made on Earth, we are still woefully underprepared for infiltrating Homeworld as it is now. We all need stay on guard at all times. And keep in mind that we must exercise caution even when we find Peridot. We have no idea how White Diamond will be able to use her as a weapon against us."

Hearing that only made Steven worry more about what he briefly heard. But he still kept that to himself. "I should be able to keep in touch with you guys at all times through Mom's power if we ever get separated. A-and once we get close enough, I'll try to sense Peridot's aura… her feelings… anything. White Diamond should be easy enough to sense… and we've got a pretty good idea where she probably is right now."

"Right… it's just like she told us before," Lapis recalled. "It'll be harder to be inconspicuous, but we can't afford the risk of splitting off into smaller groups here. We just don't know this planet well enough, and there's too many threats out there that can outnumber us and… w-we definitely can't afford any casualties this time around." She was determined not to get poofed on this mission.

"And if we come across any pallids, we poof 'em, bubble 'em, and send 'em home," Amethyst stated. "Same deal for any survivors we come across, whether they're hostile or not. I can't be the only one thinkin' Homeworld's on borrowed time before it totally falls apart."

Connie frowned. "I'm surprised the planet's still intact, honestly. The land was already dead before this happened, and as deep as they carved into this planet for Kindergarten resources, it's like we're walking on eggshells every step we take out here. I don't think this planet can take much more punishment, so… maybe we should make an effort not to contribute to that."

"As much as we can avoid within reason," Garnet acknowledged. She looked back to Greg. "We're heading out now. It may be a while before you see us again. We're trusting the heart of the Peri Patrol to keep our ride home safe."

"Me and Pumpkin have the place on lockdown; don't you worry about a thing!" Greg assured. "Since I've got a handle on how to fly the ship now, make sure you give me a signal if you need a lift. This'll be a long way for you all to travel back. And Lion's keeping me company, too. I'm sure he'll warp in right when you need him."

Steven smiled to his father. "I'll be sure to keep in touch…" He couldn't help it, now. He ran over and hugged his dad one last time. "Dad, you already know I love you. I just want you to know I'm really proud of you, too. And I'm so glad you came with us again… that you're really one of the team now."

Greg chuckled and hugged his son back. He was worried like crazy, of course, but similar to the last mission where he couldn't let himself stay uninvolved due to how short-handed the Crystal Gems were at the time, he had a reason for being here now despite the danger and his limited skillset. He was part of Peridot's rescue team – he was deemed the heart of them all, and he needed to be there to help his teammates stick together. More importantly, this was a mission to save his own leader – one whom he very much grew attached to, even more so when it was made apparent what his son meant to her. Despite how early in the game it was, Greg couldn't help but see her as someone who imminently would become an even bigger part of his family down the line. However old she was – and Greg had no idea – her behavior heavily suggested she had a young teenager's mentality. He couldn't help his compulsion to help the technician whenever she had an issue. It was with Greg where Peridot most genuinely acted her age, oddly enough.

"I'm glad I'm a dad you can be proud of, Schtu-ball," he replied before giving his son one last squeeze. "Just try not to act like this is the last time you'll ever see me, okay? Remember what I told you: she saved you all because she never stopped thinking about you, son. You were what held her together. So let her return the favor, and don't forget why we're here, okay?"

"I couldn't forget even if I wanted to," Steven said with slight unease. "Good luck, Da–"

A loud noise from miles away disrupted Steven mid-sentence. Everyone looked in the direction it came from and found a rather disturbing sight: in the direction of the metropolis, nearby where the only thing anyone could make out otherwise was Pink Diamond's ship – more due to the size and shape of it rather than its color, which it no longer had – from this great distance, a large beam of light erupted from that vicinity and shot up into the sky to form a menacing diamond shape in an eerie greenish-yellow glow.

"O-okay, one of you golden oldies better know what that is!" Amethyst looked to the senior members in a panic. "Because _holy crap!_ "

Much to her dismay, they all looked equally clueless and terrified by the sight.

"I'm sorry, Amethyst," Garnet apologized, sounding breathless. "My best guess is… a Yellow Diamond revival, but I highly doubt that's the case."

"The color is a bit off, anyway," Pearl noted. "When in doubt, assume it's a trick from White."

"Can White even make colored energy?" Connie wondered out loud. "We've only seen her do monochrome… seeing _any_ color from her just doesn't sound right."

Lapis frowned. "At least we know exactly where we need to go." She was much better prepared now to charge in. This time, she had a larger compartment for her water in a stylized jug tied securely around her hips.

"Right on," Bismuth agreed. "We just got one more Diamond upper-crust to uppercut! Let's go–"

Once more a Crystal Gem was cut off, this time by another unprecedented event: the flash of lightning and the deafening rumble of thunder that followed. The Crystal Gems looked up to see the white sky was now filled with dark gray clouds, and for the first time in Homeworld's known history, it started to rain. Not only rain, but _downpour_.

"If that's not a sign that this is the end of the world, I don't know what is," Connie cried out. "And the lightning struck down right where we're supposed to be going…"

"There is definitely something very wrong going on here," Pearl agreed. "It has _never_ rained on Homeworld." Then she realized something more horrifying. "And this is very heavy rainfall. Greg, you'd best return to the ship and get ready to relocate! I really don't think Homeworld's terra firma is going to hold out well if this weather persists. I strongly recommend finding higher ground to land on; a flash flood could wipe out our ship instantly!"

"Great; just like a downpour in a desert," Greg grumbled. "I hate having to leave you all out here, but…"

Lapis nodded to Greg. "Hey, don't worry about us. They've got _me_ here to handle any and all water problems. Just stay safe, Greg. We're counting on you."

"Oh, that's right; totally forgot this is your thing," Greg sheepishly admitted. "Okay, then. I'm off to find the high ground. Take care out there, everyone!"

While the Crystal Gems watched their PeriLove lift off and find a safer place to land, Lapis eagerly made an air bubble wide enough to cover all of her friends while keeping the water away from their heads.

"I know this is a terrible thing to be happening on a planet where it never rained before, but I can't help myself; this is so liberating for me," Lapis said with a laugh as she looked apologetically to the others. "At least I can keep us all covered from here to our destination from anything that's planning on ambushing us."

The others were just appreciative to have a gem who could keep them dry, though by the time Lapis started on this project, everyone had already been soaked through by the rain. It was actually raining hard enough to soak the entire team within a matter of minutes.

"Much appreciated, Lapis," Garnet expressed thankfully. "Unfortunately, it's going to be very problematic walking; this saturated dead earth is already becoming very muddy.

"We also stand a good chance in getting swept away by a flash flood before we get anywhere near White Diamond," Connie noted. "That's basically a guarantee; this mud's already killing our traction and our speed. I'm really thankful you're keeping us dry, Lapis, but we've still got a big problem ahead of us."

Lapis nodded in understanding. "I can divert the water away from us if a flash flood comes our way, but there's not much I can do about the traction problem… sorry. I doubt freezing the ground is going to be much of an improvement for you guys."

"... I think I have an idea."

Everyone looked to Steven.

"Lapis, you can keep this rain barrier over us even if we're going really fast, right?" Steven asked his fellow gem.

"I'll need to take to the air, but yeah." Lapis was sure of herself. "If your plan involves the rest of you zooming across the ground, I can keep up. What do you have in mind?"

Steven smirked as he looked to Garnet. "I think this is a good opportunity to let one of the fusions we've been working on the past week take the stage and put it to practice."

Garnet smiled back. "Ah, I see where you're going with this. This would be the perfect chance to put our combined skills to the test. Amethyst?"

"What's up, boss?"

"After Steven and I fuse, we'll need a means to transport the rest of you with us," Garnet explained. "Your whip will suffice; just make sure you keep Connie, Pearl, and Bismuth secure, and we'll be at White Diamond's doorstep in a minute."

Amethyst immediately understood and summoned her whip. "Neato." She looked to the others. "Make sure you three hang on tight, then. This is gonna be just like water skiing, only on land."

Bismuth, who had just experienced water skiing just under a week ago, had a feeling how this was going to play out. "I think I get the idea. I'd best bring up the rear, then. Just to be sure Pearl and Connie don't get knocked off."

Once Lapis made herself airborne, Steven grabbed onto one of Garnet's gauntlets. "Ready, Garnet?"

Garnet smirked. "I'm sure Sunstone has been waiting a long time to show off. Let's GO!"

The Crystal Gems leader swiftly flung Steven high up into the air; each of the gemstones in her hand glowed simultaneously with the one in Steven's navel. Steven laughed as he enjoyed the sensation of shooting up past Lapis' rain barrier, even going up high enough to reach Lapis to give her a high-five before finally descending. He and Garnet glowed as they came closer to making contact, and once they joined together, a flash emitted, and where Steven and Garnet once were stood Sunstone.

The buff, top-heavy fusion with two thick arms to match the upper torso's musculature and a pair of much thinner arms that better matched the lower torso and legs topped off with a head that resembled a flaming fireball with shades and a cheeky grin posed for their audience. "Sunstone's in the house! Who's ready for some dry road to cruise on?!"

"Pretty sure I'm speakin' for everybody when I say _all of us_ ," Amethyst quipped as she snapped her whip around Sunstone's waist and fastened it tightly before inviting her friends to grab on.

"I think we're all set here," Bismuth announced as she grabbed the end of the whip, keeping Connie and Pearl secure between her and Amethyst. "Lapis, you ready to take off up there?"

"Ready when you are!" Lapis hadn't seen Sunstone in action yet, so she wasn't sure just how fast she would have to move with the rain barrier, but going by the looks of the fusion, she'd likely have to push herself to the limit. "We might want to hurry; I'm seeing some kind of wave in the distance. Safe bet that's a flash flood coming straight our way."

Sunstone nodded in acknowledgement. "We're really gonna need to speed up, then! Good thing there's no speed limits on Homeworld; this is no time to obey the rules of the road! - But kids, make sure you follow the posted speed limit signs at all times, okay? And if you're too young to drive, just make sure your folks are following the signs inst–"

"HEY! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?! FLASH FLOOD, COMING OUR WAY AS WE SPEAK!"

"Chill, Lapis!" Sunstone called out. "We're all set! Let's MOVE, my compadres!"

Seconds later, Sunstone took off; Lapis did the same, making sure everyone below her remained untouched by the rain while Sunstone superheated the ground they sped across on their journey to civilization. Sooner or later, they would be right in White Diamond's domain and find the cause of this unprecedented weather.

* * *

The one responsible for Homeworld's first rain was Chartreuse Diamond, who was advised to keep a watch outside White Diamond's premises (evidently, Peridot had been inside the giant bust where the true White Diamond resided for most of her time since her capture). What Chartreuse was watching for, she wasn't certain. She also wasn't certain why she was listening to White Diamond to begin with, but the newly-born Diamond decided not to dwell on it. This was her life now, whether she liked it or not. If she had to be condemned to this planet, it was much better to do so embracing the life of a Diamond rather than continue living as a miserable Peridot. Some part of her feared White Diamond could take this power away just as easily as she gave it, even if it was technically Peridot's birthright.

She was quite proud of herself for inducing this storm simply by wishing for it to exist. White Diamond wasn't lying when she said Chartreuse had no need to worry about controlling her powers or using them responsibly, because as the Diamond of Will, the newborn Diamond could wish for herself to be competent with her powers. This was definitely one of the most versatile, useful abilities one could ever have. Peridot first assumed her specialty as a Diamond would have something more involved with her technological wizardry or vast array of knowledge, as it seemed she should be the Diamond of Wisdom, or the Diamond of Technology… maybe even the Diamond of Metallurgy.

But especially after thinking back on how long she held out against White Diamond of all beings, willpower had decisively become Peridot's defining feature above all others. She excelled in her work at the start of her life and overcame all other Peridots decisively, because she wanted Yellow Diamond's attention more than anyone else. Now, here she was, though the title seemed a bit less glamorous now that there were very few subjects left on the planet who could properly serve under her. White told Chartreuse there were gems still on Homeworld who weren't made pallid yet, but she refused to give any more detail than that. Chartreuse found she couldn't just will White Diamond into telling her everything she wanted to know, indicating that despite her many inherent advantages, the young Diamond still needed practice to improve her skill.

The reason Chartreuse was so proud of the rainy weather? Well, there were two: first, knowing fully well how functionally dead Homeworld was as a planet, and knowing she had developed a skill on Earth to cultivate life instead of taking it away, Chartreuse was determined to find out if she could make any flora grow on Homeworld. She learned the hard way that making sustainable life on a Kindergarten was completely impossible, but back then, she didn't have the power to restore nutrients to the ground.

Chartreuse knew all life started with water, so the obvious first step in making Homeworld a planet lush with organic life was to restore the water reserves and to make the ground as receptive to new life as possible.

The second reason… was more of a sentimental one. In her life as Peridot, her first true experience with Earth that endeared her to that planet was the day Steven introduced her to the concept of rain and thunderstorms. That was also when she first felt a bit of endearment to Steven himself. She genuinely hoped he was still living a happy, healthy life on Earth along with everyone else. And beyond indulging in her memories and fantasies (as her sealed-away defiance had already engaged in a while ago), this was the former Peridot's way of feeling close to Steven again. No amount of time away from the boy would change her stance on him.

Chartreuse was fairly sure she couldn't face Steven as she was now, anyway. Given Steven's history with the Diamonds, she wouldn't blame Steven for not being able to fully accept her like this, even if she could. She was living every gem's dream right now; of course, Steven wouldn't understand that. Chartreuse was happy she could go back to being Peridot whenever she wanted, but since she had just ascended, she had no desire to regress so soon. But there was the problem of the permanent change in her appearance as a result of her ascent; namely the evolution of her gemstone. Regardless of which form she took, her forehead would be adorned with a chartreuse diamond embedded in the center of her triangular peridot gem. So even as Peridot, everyone would immediately know she gave into White Diamond and might be labeled untrustworthy again, just like she had been so many times before she finally (and inadvertently) proved her allegiance. The last thing Chartreuse wanted as Peridot was going back to being treated like their untrustworthy prisoner of war.

Luckily, with the powers she was gifted, it didn't take Chartreuse long to find a solution to this. She'd have to figure out a way to make it an automatic change every time she switched forms until her dual personas were equally respected, but since that wasn't planned to happen anytime soon, the Diamond found a quick fix for her problem.

With a simple wish, a hand mirror came into existence. Chartreuse grabbed it and examined her face. This was the first time Chartreuse Diamond truly got a good look at herself since her transformation. Her pupils were now diamond-shaped like her fellow kin, though her irises still displayed blue on her left and hazel to her right.

Possibly to reflect on the sheer youth of Peridot upon becoming a Diamond, she noticed both signs of a maturing face, but more exaggerated traits of her youth were present now. Her cheeks were fatter and dotted with dark green freckles and her lips were rather plump; said lips were just a few shades darker than the color of her skin, which remained the same shade as Peridot's. She did have either extremely thick black eyelashes or mascara around her eyes – not at all dissimilar to White's Diamond's, in fact – and of course a perfect chartreuse-colored diamond rested over the dead center of her lime green peridot gem.

Before she got too distracted in checking herself out, Chartreuse swiped two fingers across her gemstone, and with her will, erased the peridot gem on her forehead. It wasn't really gone, of course; it was just made invisible. Now she perfectly fit the Diamond mold and wouldn't get any nosy questions about her personal life from anyone who cared enough to notice about that kind of thing. When she reverted to Peridot, she could do the same with the diamond.

With that taken care of, Chartruese tossed the hand mirror aside and stood up. She had been sitting on the edge of one of the bridges between the Diamond Palaces (all eerily vacant now; Chartreuse wondered if White would let her inherit one since they had no other purpose to serve now), keeping watch down below as White Diamond instructed her to. It was a bit of a long drop down from where she was sitting – close to 50 feet – and sadly Chartreuse quickly found that her true height, though it many times over taller than her height as Peridot, paled greatly in comparison to her predecessors. Even Pink Diamond, who was extremely short compared to Blue and Yellow, would have towered over Chartreuse, who was roughly half the height of Pink. Then again, this was to be expected of a Diamond who was only just born in the first days of Era 3 ascended from a late-Era 2 bottom-tier gem.

Of course, Chartreuse could always make herself taller artificially; she was still in joyous disbelief that an Era 2 like her could get these Era 1 privileges from her ascension.

Still, the Diamond had seen little to nothing of interest in the common grounds below her. If this was Earth, there would be a beautiful quadrant of a palace garden below her, but instead she had to settle for a synthetic Homeworld equivalent that didn't have half the soul a genuine garden had. Hardly a living soul roamed about the common grounds, and what few Chartreuse did see were just pallids anyway - possibly ones that were sent to keep an eye on the young Diamond herself. White Diamond must have been expecting some company to put Chartreuse out on guard duty of all things. It must be a special kind of company that an army of pallids just weren't enough to handle… either way, it was definitely a mystery.

Bored out of her mind, Chartreuse decided to summon a full-body mirror to see her complete look. The enthusiasm she had for finally getting to see her reflection echoed back to how she behaved as Peridot discovering a mirror for the first time in Steven's bathroom and actually getting to see herself for the first time in her life.

She found a nice way to get a full look of her hair, but quickly realized this downpour of rain had ruined it; Chartreuse already had to fold back her bangs that otherwise stuck to her face, but her tied-back hair was most likely not meant to resemble wet dog ears on her head. The former Peridot sighed and tapped her head, willing her hair to not only dry off and return to its intended shape, but be waterproofed to keep that sorry sight from ever happening again. _Now_ her hair had some personality to it. It was framed around her head similar to her Peridot form in that curved around the sides of her face, though in the form of two angular bangs stemming from her forehead just above her gemstone. A rapid departure from the Peridot style was her mass of chartreuse hair no longer styled in a triangular shape (or a quasi-diamond depending on the angle); now it was tied back in very thick bunches that pointed up towards the sky in several angular split ends. The tips of her bunched-up hair had a gradient effect where the color erred to a greener shade of chartreuse opposed to the dominant yellow.

The hairstyle looked a bit childish, perhaps, but if the shoe fits… at least this encouraged Chartreuse to be a bit braver in trying different with her hair as Peridot in the future. All she really knew style-wise in that form was that she liked certain asymmetrical accessories adorning the side. Her personal favorite was that green ribbon that decorated the wrapping over the tablet she received from Steven, who slapped it onto her hair in his own cute, playful way. Those were much happier times…

But Chartreuse couldn't let herself be ruled by the past. She had to make new memories now, even if making good ones on Homeworld seemed almost impossible. She opted to instead to study the outfit she received upon ascension. It felt like she had hardly gotten to enjoy her post-reformed Crystal Gem uniform before getting upgraded once again, but she assumed she would retain that outfit when she became Peridot again, because what she wore right now wouldn't work out at all with Peridot's stature. A Diamond's body gave her some very defined curves, so even for her relatively petite body, she possessed wide hips and a very respectable bust size. Her original form barely offered either of those features.

The base of her outfit was a dark green bodysuit that started from her neck and extended all the way down to her upper thighs. It was a reverse V-neck style, so her shoulders were bare, though her arms were mostly covered with gloves of the same color that started in a sloping triangular shape from her upper arms and ended in a similar shape over her hand, just short of where her fingers were. Over her bosom was an extra body piece predominantly lime green accented with yellow edges with an added cut of a more moderate shade of green. Most of her outfit had very angular edges to them, and this one was no different - it fit perfectly against the V-neck of her darker bodysuit in two curved triangles while the bottom veered off in opposite diagonal directions down her midsection. It gave the impression of a diamond's top part, as at her waist was piping the same yellow shade as her accents that curved around her hips in a V-shape This piping was the rim of a green-toned transparent short skirt and only barely obscured the short-shorts style of the end of the main bodysuit. The lower end of the transparent skirt was also adorned with a yellow rim.

That left her legs bare until halfway down her thighs, when the yellow rim returned in the form of very long boots below it. The trim was diagonal in opposite directions again, and the boots were predominately moderate green. But, similar to both outfits she wore as Peridot, her knees were adorned with the shape of her allegiance - in this case she returned to diamonds, dark green in color like the stars she had on the equivalent part of her newer outfit. The boots were wedge cuts and fairly modest, which was good; as notorious a klutz Peridot tended to be, she really didn't want that stigma to carry on into her Chartreuse Diamond identity.

She had a feeling, though, that no amount of willpower would compensate for her lack of grace.

That seemed to be the case as just one attempt at a twirl nearly had her trip and fall off the bridge entirely. Just as Chartreuse caught herself in the nick of time, a particular light caught her eyes in the distance. It rapidly grew bigger and resembled a fireball, which understandably confused Chartreuse. It wasn't coming straight for her, necessarily, but rather the palace grounds several feet below. The Diamond was surprised the fireball didn't crash into the wall; it instead made a well-timed stop that seemed considerate to the passengers hitching a ride behind it. A sudden stop would have launched the hitchhikers straight into the wall per the laws of physics.

Chartreuse willed a pair of binoculars to get a better view of what was going on down there, but immediately felt sick as she could immediately identify almost everyone who had suddenly come by. The fireball turned out to be some gem Chartreuse had never seen before in her life, though the shades it wore made it feel familiar somehow. Lapis Lazuli was easily spotted flying, having kept everyone shielded from the rain for the entire ride below; she was somewhere around the halfway mark up the bridge, but was more focused on her teammates than what was ahead of her.

The passengers with the stranger were none other than Amethyst, Pearl, Connie, and Bismuth. Oddly enough, no sign of Garnet or Steven, so Chartreuse couldn't even guess who was leading this iteration of the Crystal Gems, but that was a minor detail compared to the realization that _the Crystal Gems were here._ If they were here, surely Garnet and Steven couldn't be far away, and now Chartreuse was officially terrified. She wondered if White Diamond knew they were coming; if that was why she had been sent out here on patrol.

Perhaps this was a test. Chartreuse knew White Diamond had no interest in any of her former teammates with the exception of Steven. White probably suspected Chartreuse would betray her, because these _were_ her beloved friends and family that she had only recently accepted would never come back for her.

She hardly had any time to process the several thousand thoughts and feelings that hit her all at once, because although her figure was mostly just a very eerie silhouette to the smaller gems much further below, she easily stood out as someone they could approach and wasn't mistaken for some abstract architecture of the palaces. Once she spotted them all looking up in her direction, Chartreuse panicked. She had no desire to fight the Crystal Gems. At the same time, she was in no mood to defy White Diamond, either, and there didn't seem to be a solution for both sides to meet halfway.

Part of Chartreuse thought it should be obvious that she ought to side with them and take out White Diamond. She had fought off the Diamond's assertion of dominance over her for so long, it just didn't feel right to be fighting on White's behalf. On the other hand, the idea of spitting in her face so soon after White awakened this new form of hers just seemed far too disrespectful - and behavior like that wouldn't make her any better than the various enemies she had come across all her life. That was behavior of the old 5XG Peridot, and Chartreuse wanted to steer as far away from that route as much as possible.

Not helping the new Diamond's case was her own flimsy mentality. Going from barely having any power at all to having unlimited, endless power that she could conjure just through her desire alone was a gargantuan leap made it extremely hard for the former Peridot to contain herself. Much like how she felt when the pressure was on when she took responsibility as a leader for the Crystal Gems, the responsibility of a power-wielding Diamond was several times that.

It didn't help that Chartreuse wasn't really all there herself since White sealed off that small bit of Peridot's fire. Ever since then, Peridot (and consequently Chartreuse) had become much less sure of herself and questioned everything she stood for, as White quickly poked holes into the many new areas of weakness she displayed once she fell victim to the blade.

Her mind really was split in half and would likely stay that way until the Peridot trapped inside her subconscious was fully nursed back to health.

* * *

"Whoever that is, she must have noticed us coming through here with Sunstone," Pearl determined as she peered up at the towering figure on the bridge above them. "But she hasn't immediately attacked us yet, so… I'm not sure what to make of her."

"Well, this is where both the weird diamond light and the lightning originated from, right?" Connie looked around the area. "I don't think we can ignore her."

Lapis hovered down closer to better converse with her teammates. "There's no fast way to get up to that level, unfortunately. It's either me giving you all a lift one-by-one, everybody scales the wall behind us, or we look around aimlessly for some stairs or an elevator, or even a warp pad. Part of me doubts we'll find anything like that, though. That's Diamond territory up there; common gems wouldn't have easy access to that level."

"But there's no way that's a Diamond, right?" Bismuth was perplexed. "There should only be one left, and that sure as heck ain't White. But that hair alone… that's nothin' I've ever seen on any gem before."

Amethyst grinned and summoned her whip. "I think I've got a fast track to the top up my sleeve. I just need to find the right spot and throw a lasso to fasten this baby." She paused when she heard some unpleasant noises in the distance behind her and turned her head. "–Or not. _Crap._ White walker alert! I think you attracted some new fans over, Sunstone!"

Sunstone turned around and noticed they had indeed drawn the attention of several pallid gems, and every single one walked towards the dead end the Crystal Gems were trapped in. "Whoops! My bad, everybody! I just had to obey the rules of the road and keep my lights on in these rainy conditions, you know?"

"Oh, honestly," Pearl grumbled as she rolled her eyes before summoning her spear. "It's a good thing we're all vaccinated, at least. We might as well see this as an opportunity to keep some of White Diamond's toys away from her. I have a feeling we're going to need a bigger Burning Room after we bubble all of these and send them off."

"What if our mystery lady makes a run for it while we're busy, though?" Bismuth pointed out. "This might be a distraction she summoned for us."

Sunstone nodded. "Totally agreed; one of us needs to hurry and get up there before she hightails it outta here. Since there's no need to worry about any of you getting infected and pallids are piss-poor opponents to fight, I'll volunteer to go up and meet our new friend."

"Are you sure?" Lapis asked. "I could get up there faster…"

"Don't you worry; I've got my own method of scaling the walls," Sunstone assured as their hands turned into suction cups. "And I can do it allllll by myself! Besides, if she made it to Diamond territory, there's a good chance she could be a nightmare to fight, unlike these toadies. In case of that, you'll want a fusion up there takin' care of that hot mess. You'll be invaluable defense down here, Lapis. As long as we've got all this water around us, you can easily make it so the pallids don't even get within 10 feet of us before you poof 'em."

Lapis smiled back at the fusion. "Good point. Best of luck, Sunstone. We'll meet you at the top once we clear out the herd."

"Sounds like a date!" And with that, Sunstone leaped to the wall and effortlessly scaled their way towards the top while the rest of the Crystal Gems contended with their operation of saving as many Homeworld gems as possible. Sunstone was surprisingly met with no resistance from their target above; said target was too frozen with indecision to act as a friend or a foe.

* * *

Chartreuse jumped back to create some distance between herself and the mystery gem who just then finished climbing up the wall. The Diamond smacked her forehead in frustration when she finally got a good look at the stranger who engaged in a stand-off with her; she really should have put the pieces together sooner. Steven and Garnet were the only ones she couldn't spot in the group – now that she saw the signature red shirt with a yellow star _and_ the shades, it was obvious. Whatever this gem was, it was a fusion. It had to be Garnet and Steven together.

Deep down inside, the Diamond felt so envious, as she was reminded she never had the opportunity to even try fusing with Steven as Peridot. If anyone could fuse with an Era 2, it would have been him. But she was too self-conscious to ask, and he misinterpreted that as disinterest… and now it was too late to rectify that missed opportunity.

"So, what do they call you, stranger?" the fusion asked before adding an aside that just confused the hell out of Chartreuse. "Kids: do as I say, not as I do. Engaging a stranger can lead to stranger danger, and that's **no** good!"

Chartreuse was _so_ glad she thought to hide away the miserable, lower-class part of her gemstone; it wouldn't have taken them long to identify her. "Aren't you the rude one… this is _my_ residence, you abomination to gemkind. If anyone is owed an introduction, it's _me_."

"They call me Sunstone!" they proudly announced. "The fusion that's a friend to all the kids out there! I guarantee you, this form is no abomination. Now, I can tell you're a Diamond, but you're new around here, aren't ya? You're so full of mystery, you can't just leave me hanging!"

The inadvertent appeal to the inner Peridot's ego was enough for the much taller gem to be compelled to cooperate. "Chartreuse Diamond, then. I am indeed a new Diamond, created due to the power vacuum left by the demise of Yellow and Blue. I highly recommend you not to instigate a conflict with me, fusion. I'm in no mood to dirty my hands with grunt work."

"Chartreuse, huh," Sunstone acknowledged thoughtfully. "You must be Today's News, then, 'cause I've never heard of any Diamond outside the original four. Where'd you come from?"

"None of your business," Chartreuse flatly replied.

Sunstone nodded in understanding. "Fair enough; we're not familiar enough yet to share intimate details like that. Let's change the topic: are you holding a certain Peridot hostage anywhere around here? I can sense one nearby!"

Chartreuse tried to keep a straight face, but she was overcome with so many emotions crashing into her mind at once. The look of hope and desperation that she was being saved, the heartwarming joy of knowing her friends came back for her… then the anger of knowing every single one of them ignored her pleas to stay away. And then, abject horror and fear that the fusion was on to her. Despite her ascension, Chartreuse Diamond was still emitting Peridot's aura, and even she couldn't will that to stop. She'd have to will herself out of existence to pull that off.

"A _certain_ Peridot?" she echoed, trying her best to portray ignorance of who the fusion referred to. "You need to be more specific than that, fusion. There are _millions_ of Peridots on this planet, and none of them are of any significance."

"Don't you front with me!" Sunstone shouted and pointed at the Diamond. "White wouldn't have _not_ told you the Crystal Gems were comin' for her! That she's using a rebel Peridot, _our friend_ , as bait to bring Pink Diamond back to her! That's why you're really here! White Diamond knows a full squadron's out to get her that includes Pink, so she needed a new lackey to slow us down since she killed her original two!"

Chartreuse gulped and stepped away from Sunstone. "I-I've had enough of your vulgarity, you filthy fusion! I've had enough of you in general! Your time is _over!_ " She punctuated that statement with a snap of her fingers.

And just like that, Sunstone destabilized. A flash of light forcefully ejected Steven and Garnet out of their fusion and left them both sprawling on the floor. Chartreuse wanted to avoid doing this, really, because that made it even harder for her to look her friends in the face now that they were in the forms she was most familiar with. It was especially hard to look at Steven; her inner Peridot wanted to run to him so badly and never let go.

But White was remotely monitoring every bit of this event. If Chartreuse disobeyed, she could be shattered instantly, or devoured like the Diamonds that preceded her. And even if Chartreuse had the guts to defy her superior, she was certain her friends would reject her now for who she is. And it's already come to a point where Chartreuse knowingly had to attack her own friends. She couldn't justify any of that. Her very existence was a spit in the face of every friend Peridot had.

She felt so trapped; at this point, it was easier for her to just succumb to White Diamond's desires, so she could at least _be_ who she really was now: a traitor and a monster. But it killed Chartreuse to directly harm her friends. She needed to ward them away to the best of her ability or misdirect them. The same skills she had as a weak little Peridot.

"H-how did she…?" Garnet was baffled by what happened. "She just forced us to defuse in an instant… she emitted no attack or energy…"

"You really wanna know?" Chartreuse darkly asked. "Just how well do you know the Diamonds, you rebels? Do you have any idea what each one represents?"

Steven stepped forward. "I-if anyone should know, it would be me! My mom was Pink Diamond, okay? I inherited her gemstone, but that doesn't mean I'm Pink Diamond!"

"Which means even a Diamond like you has no idea what we stand for," Chartreuse countered. She had to force herself to not show any preferential treatment to Steven. "You're basically Pink 2.0 if you can still use her powers, you bizarre organic hybrid. Pink Diamond represents Life. She can heal, resurrect the deceased, give life to inanimate objects, and even make places unsustainable for life fertile and lush. And apparently, her empathy is so powerful, she can heal other beings through feelings alone. You know, you could be helping me. I'm trying to make this planet fertile again starting with this rain!"

"So, you _are_ responsible for the weather," Garnet realized. "Chartreuse, you need to put a stop to this immediately. Your actions are only accelerating the decay of Homeworld!"

Chartreuse Diamond didn't understand this. "What are you talking about? Water is required to foster any and all life! I'm _helping_ this planet recover!"

Steven shook his head. "Chartreuse, it's not that simple. The ground here can't take all this rain and nothing's growing from it. All you've done is make it muddy to walk through and flash floods are wrecking what's left of Homeworld."

"And by now, your actions will cause landslides from higher elevations," Garnet added. "I wonder if White Diamond will care of your good intentions if you cause her palaces to sink into the ground…"

"Oh my stars." Chartreuse Diamond didn't think this far ahead. As much as she learned about farming and cultivating life on Earth, she hadn't learned about the terrible side-effects of inducing weather in areas that never have it naturally, even if they appear that they could benefit from it. " _Stop it, rain!_ You've done enough damage!" And just like that, the rain finally came to an end. "Oh no, oh no, how do I fix this?!"

Steven was amazed to see how effortlessly the new Diamond could end the downpour. "Chartreuse, how are you able to do this? The rain ended when you asked it to… and you disrupted me and Garnet's fusion to get rid of Sunstone. I don't understand what you are!"

Chartreuse frowned and looked down at Steven. "As I said before, you represent life. Blue was the Diamond of Emotion; able to project her feelings through other gems and her powers varied wildly depending on her mood. Yellow was the Diamond of Law, which she laid down very efficiently for several millennia. She was responsible for creating the caste system and every gem's destined function when they emerge. White is the Diamond of Omniscience and everything. She is everywhere without even having to move from her seat. She's aware of the conversation we're having right now."

"So, what do you represent as a Diamond?" Garnet asked.

"Willpower," Chartreuse responded deviously. "I made it rain on this planet for the first time in its lifespan because I wanted it to. I was tired of Sunstone's posturing, so I forced your fusion to split because I didn't want to see it anymore. Do you understand what I'm capable of?! If I wanted you to shatter on the spot because I desired your death, you would be in pieces right now!"

Steven looked over to Garnet. "I don't think she's making this up, Garnet. This sounds really dangerous…"

Garnet nodded. "It wouldn't be wise to attack or antagonize her." She lowered her voice to keep Chartreuse from overhearing the pair. "But I can tell she is lacking in experience. However she came into existence, it was very recently… but an overpowered child is still dangerous."

"Sh-she's gotta know where Peridot is," Steven insisted. "I can still sense her. She's not responding to me, but she's really close by. How are we gonna get her to cooperate?"

Just then, Lapis came into view, flying up while carrying Bismuth to the top. At the same time, a familiar whip wrapped around a pillar. Seconds later, Connie, Pearl, and Amethyst were climbing up to join their two comrades.

"Pallids are signed, sealed, and delivered!" Amethyst proudly announced. Her bravado died out quickly when she saw the foe ahead of her. "Now… what the ever-living _fudge_ is that?!"

"Isn't that a _diamond_ on her forehead?!" Connie cried out and pointed.

"She's no Diamond I ever seen before!" Bismuth angrily declared.

Pearl agreed. "White Diamond has resorted to creating artificial discounts now, I see!"

Lapis glared at the imposing woman. "Fake or not, Diamonds are monsters who should all be shattered! To me, she's no different from White Diamond!"

Chartreuse Diamond stumbled back further, reeling from the scathing comments from the people who were her friends. They had every right to be terrified, but it didn't hurt her inner Peridot any less to hear this being said about her. It only proved her fears to be true: they would hate her and toss her aside even if she did revert back to Peridot at this point. They wouldn't even hear her out. She had made a bad decision, but it was too late to renege on it now. Her hands were tied.

The more Chartreuse looked back at those hateful, glaring faces, the more it encouraged her unstable mind to become truly antagonistic to her own friends and family. It encouraged her to not only take White Diamond more seriously, but agree with her point of view. She had finally accepted after a week of endless fighting and resistance all by her lonesome to embrace her new life on Homeworld. She was finally a _somebody_ now. Somebody to be respected, feared, and admired. She had the literal power of getting anything she wanted – though there were still limitations on that due to her inexperience. If she had mastered her power, Chartreuse would have sent every single one of the Crystal Gems back to Earth immediately.

But she knew she was too lacking in skill to risk that. For all she knew, she could end up sending them into a random quadrant in the depths of space with no protection. That would be instant death for Steven. It was just as unacceptable to Chartreuse Diamond as it was to Peridot to even think about attempting anything that might kill Steven instantly.

" **Shut up!** ALL of you! Shut up, shut up, _shut up!_ " Chartreuse haphazardly waved her hands at the Crystal Gems. Suddenly, and definitely unexpectedly, the mouths of Amethyst, Connie, Bismuth, Pearl, and Lapis were covered entirely by metal plates somehow stuck to their skin. They could not be removed no matter how hard they pried and pulled. "I am **not** repeating myself – not to the likes of you!" She glared at Steven and Garnet, who could still speak, at least. "You can tell them all about me when you have the time!"

It was in that moment that the entire charade nearly fell apart. For the first time, Garnet looked deep into Chartreuse Diamond's eyes – and she noticed the heterochromia. Very specifically, the colors of blue and hazel. Steven kept saying he could feel Peridot right by them despite her being nowhere in sight. While the Diamond's voice was lower-pitched and her tone lacked true compassion and empathy, there was a definite resemblance between Chartreuse's voice and…

Garnet understood it all now. She figured out what Peridot must have been an experiment for.

Even with the visor covering the fusion's piercing look, Chartreuse's eyes widened in abject horror; Garnet had to have figured it out. And she was going to spill the truth to everyone in a matter of seconds.

"What interesting eyes for a Diamond to have," Garnet calmly observed. "Yet they do not match your color scheme at all. And there's something familiar about–"

Before Steven could even follow Garnet's gaze to reach the same conclusion, he cried out as Chartreuse viciously swiped at the fusion to not only shut her up, but incapacitate her. She ended up doing more than that – the ferocity of her destabilizing strike was powerful enough to break Garnet's fusion. In a flash of light, Steven saw Ruby and Sapphire struck harshly into the stone flooring – and both of them flickered, as if they had been cracked. Everyone else, who were still trying in vain to free their mouths, were now focused on the two badly damaged gems.

Chartreuse finally did it. She directly hurt one of her friends… or two… or three, depending on the perspective. The hand that struck them quickly rose up to cover the Diamond's face, as she started quietly laughing… or crying… or both to herself over what she just caused. Chartreuse felt like such an idiot right now, and not just for her actions. She only now remembered Garnet and Steven were the first witnesses to her true eye colors when she busted her visor against the door and gave them the most positive silent goodbye she could muster. They knew of her heterochromia well before she did!

She had the foresight to hide the peridot part of her gemstone, but Chartreuse completely forgot she needed to change the color of her eyes to be completely indistinguishable from Peridot. It hadn't been that long ago since she found out the truth herself, to be fair… still, it was a major oversight she needed to correct immediately.

Steven had run for both Ruby and Sapphire and kneeled beside them, trying to comfort the gems and attempting to find out if their stones had sustained any damage. Then he heard the laughing/crying and glared up at Chartreuse Diamond. "You think this is _funny?!_ "

The Diamond fell silent just then. Anything negative projected from Steven to her was practically her kryptonite. When Chartreuse removed her hand from her face, her eyes were closed as she was sure to wipe away any tears that spilled out. She struggled to maintain her smile and composure while forcing out an answer for her Steven.

"In a cosmic sort of way, yes…" When Chartreuse Diamond opened her eyes again, they were now uniformly a glowing neon green. She eyed Steven below her, cradling Ruby and Sapphire in his arms. "Oh, grow up, will you? They'll be _fine_. It's their own fault the fusion was running her mouth too much for my liking." She eyed the group behind Steven, still forcibly silenced, but nearly all of them were prepared to pounce on her. "If I were you sorry lot, I'd rethink this whole "I'm gonna attack a Diamond!" thing you're going for. You actually think you can damage _me?_ That's precious!"

That didn't stop Lapis from rapid-firing a ball of water she gathered from the remaining rainwater. But Chartreuse Diamond countered by deflecting it with the mere flick of her finger. The water turned into ice the second it came into contact with the Diamond, so Lapis was unexpectedly met with her own attack, in frozen form, being sent right back at her. It all happened so fast, Lapis had no time to dodge it and was knocked out of the air, falling in a heap on the hard floor. Connie, Pearl, Amethyst, and Bismuth all rushed over to her side.

Despite still caring deeply for Lapis, Chartreuse had a much easier time hurting her. Deep down, the Peridot in her still wanted Lapis to feel her pain.

"CHARTREUSE! STOP IT!" That was Steven. Now, the Diamond felt the guilt seep in, but she couldn't let it show.

" _You_ are in no position to make demands of me, Pink 2.0!" Chartreuse shouted back. She then looked to the others much further behind Steven, Sapphire, and Ruby. "Is anyone else inclined try something stupid, or can we move on? You cl- _clowns_ are really trying my patience, because I'm _considering_ helping you!" She nearly gave herself away again; Chartreuse needed to find a way to wipe the word "clod" from her mind while in this form, because sooner or later, she'd slip up and say it without realizing her blunder until far too late.

Steven wasn't buying it for a second. "Help with _what?_ "

Chartreuse smirked at the boy. "You still sense the Peridot you're looking for, don't you?"

That fanned the flames that were coming out of Steven before. He couldn't see any sign of Peridot anywhere, and that was very distressing for him. It felt like she was just a few feet away, but she was nowhere to be seen. Had Chartreuse not changed her eyes when she did, Steven would have pieced it together by this point. Now he was just confused.

"Where is she, Chartreuse?" Steven asked desperately. "She's the only reason we came back here; we can leave you alone if you just give her back. We don't want any trouble."

Those words were like several blades slicing into Chartreuse's neck. She stopped to acknowledge that despite her best efforts to ward them away, her friends came back for her, anyway. They risked everything for her… and this was how she repaid them. With overwhelming guilt, Chartreuse dispelled the metal muting all of the other Crystal Gems. She was back to regretting everything she did and hated herself for being weak enough to become what she was now.

Chartreuse wanted so badly to revert to her old self and just go home. But White was watching… and she was completely under White's thumb. One wrong move now would probably end up with most of her friends killed on the spot. She had already established herself as an antagonist to this group. She was still afraid they'd reject her after everything she'd done up to this point. It was then she had an idea for how she could engineer a situation where the Crystal Gems got what they wanted and could freely leave without having to worry about White Diamond's wrath… her immediate wrath, anyway.

"You talk as if this insignificant Peridot, one of many millions, is important to you," she said in a somber tone. She turned away from the group as they slowly approached her to join Steven and the two injured gems he still held. "They're so easily replaceable, you know. I could summon one up for you right now and let you be on your way."

"Clearly, like all the other Diamonds, you never really had a friend before," Bismuth remarked. "There's a lot of Peridots out there, sure… but there's only one _Peri_. She's the only one we're gonna take, or no deal."

Chartreuse was glad she wasn't facing her friends now, because that statement made her flinch.

"I imagine you won't take "no" for an answer," she sorrowfully assumed. The real weakness of Chartreuse Diamond was, ironically, her own willpower. Lack thereof, rather, when it came time to do something she really didn't want to do. Especially if she was extremely conflicted on the matter. In this moment, she certainly didn't feel like an almighty Diamond; just the same cowardly Peridot who couldn't face her own friends.

"You're right," Connie harshly affirmed. "We _aren't_ accepting anything other than our Peridot. And if you're thinking about tricking us, don't bother. We'll know the real deal when we see it."

Chartreuse pondered on that for a moment. "… You can prove that?"

"As long as we're together, we'll take on and take out any challenge you throw at our way, little Diamond!" Amethyst proudly boasted. "Seriously, lady. I thought you'd be a _little_ taller than you are…"

Steven nodded to Amethyst. "As a team, you can't stop us! We'll find Peridot, the Peridot who lives on Earth with us, even if you threw all of the others at us at once!"

"Steven, please don't tempt fate like that," Pearl calmly requested. "Now, Chartreuse Diamond. Are you going to take us to Peridot or not?"

Chartreuse turned around with a tired look on her face. "Sure, sure…" She raised her right hand and closed it into a fist.

Suddenly, a scream was heard; it was Connie's. The cause was quickly determined; a hole had spawned right beneath her feet and gravity took care of the rest. The hole disappeared before anyone could reach in to pull her out.

Similarly, before anyone had time to look at Chartreuse and get pissed at her for pulling a fast one on them, holes spawned underneath everyone's feet and they fell accordingly. Well, save for a few. Lapis, who could fly, was quick to hover over the hole to avoid her trap.

" _Ha!_ Did you seriously not bother paying attention earlier?!" She boasted. "For a Diamond, you're a huge _clod_ , you know that?"

Chartreuse Diamond's eyes narrowed. She did not force herself to not use that word just so her friends could use it on her instead. "I'm going to make you regret calling me that for the rest of your life, Lazuli. Now, _stay down_." She snapped her fingers, and Lapis quickly regretted taunting her adversary as a powerful vacuum emitted from the hole, sucking everything in sight within it. Lapis was far too close to get out of range, and in a matter of seconds, she was sent screaming down into the abyss. "Who's the clod, now?"

All who remained on level with Chartreuse now were Steven, Sapphire, and Ruby. And it wasn't for sentimental purposes that she kept Steven above ground for this long. Had she made a hole under him, Sapphire and Ruby would have gone right down with him. Chartreuse engineered this trap to divide and conquer, and the last thing she needed to see was an invitation for Sunstone to return. Steven had clung to the two this entire time; both were still too injured to speak.

"Why?!" Steven cried out to the Diamond. "Why are you doing this?! I thought you were finally gonna help us!"

Chartreuse sighed and looked genuinely remorseful. "Trust me; this is hurting me way more than it's hurting you. The sooner you give in, the sooner we can get this over with. I'm so done…"

Two holes appeared below the helpless Ruby and Sapphire. This resulted in Steven being yanked down face-first into the floor while each his arms were partially sunk below both holes, weighed down by their respective targets. It was only a matter of time before Steven lost his grip on both, which left him the last man standing. The boy was driven to tears once he lost Ruby and Sapphire to their traps. Both were injured, and both were now separated. And now he was all alone; he couldn't feel any of his friends' auras even though they were with him just seconds ago.

"Y-you could've been our ally!" he sobbed. "We would have helped you! I know if you're having to serve White Diamond, you gotta be in some kinda trouble! You can't trust her, Chartreuse! I saw firsthand how she treats the other Diamonds! I don't want her to eat you, too!"

Chartreuse paused at that; she knew full well what Steven was talking about. She had seen the exact same thing he did… why was it that she only remembered it _now?_

"Wh-why can't you just put your faith in someone who's not gonna double-cross you?!" he continued to cry. "If you just talked to me about your problem, I'd be more than happy to help you, Chartreuse! Why won't you let me help you?!"

All the same, it was killing her deep inside to hear Steven like this. Her resolve was going to break if she didn't send him into his pocket dimension like she had done to the others soon. She approached Steven and sat by him for a moment. She patted his head while he continued to cry out in anguish.

Chartreuse resisted her urge to call him a crybaby and looked him in the eye, smiling sadly. "If I told you everything, you'd never be able to help me. You'd definitely never trust me, and rightly so. Enjoy your blissful ignorance just this once, okay?"

" _NO!"_ Steven wailed as he clung to her arm. "I can tell you're hurting! You just told me so yourself! Don't act like I can't handle the truth, Chartreuse! Someone really important told me I'm gonna have to accept that life just sucks sometimes. Bad things happen to good people for no reason… it just happens. That can lead to good people doing bad things… if you were really bad, Chartreuse… you also said it best earlier. We all would've been dead ages ago, because you can just will us all to die. If you really hated us, why haven't you done that already?"

Steven was really pushing Chartreuse's limits; she was barely able to keep herself from crying. "Just because I can make it happen doesn't mean I have the right to go through with it. With great power comes great responsibility… and this kind of power requires a responsible wielder. Otherwise, you end up living on a planet that's just inches away from death with the populace not far behind."

She was obviously talking about the current state of Homeworld; Steven knew that. What really got his attention were the first couple of things the Diamond told him, however… and then a revelation hit him.

"Chartreuse, you lied about what you promised us, but there's something I'm still confused about," Steven confessed. "Do you think you can explain it for me before you send me down a hole, too?"

The young Diamond couldn't say no to that face. "Just one more thing, okay? White's gonna be pissed that I stalled for this long with you already."

Steven's face abruptly shifted from innocent and curious to a very knowing, focused stare into her eyes. "I can't tell where my friends are even though they were just here. Usually I can at least sense some residual aura even after they've left an area, but you just made all of that disappear… I guess 'cause they're on another plane of existence or something. But… Chartreuse. This entire time… like, since I came up to face you as Sunstone, I've been sensing my Peridot's aura, like she's just a few feet away from me. Now it's even closer. I feel it touching me _right now_ , Chartreuse. How does that work?"

Chartreuse Diamond froze. Her hand still rested against Steven's hair, and he made a point to cling to her arm. What Steven said at the end sounded much more like a rhetorical question, because Chartreuse could read his expression perfectly: he knew. She didn't know how long he's known, but he figured it out somehow without Garnet. Steven could tell he nailed it on the head. Of course, he had no idea how this was even possible, but his heart was telling him Peridot had been standing in front of him all along. It was a given that White Diamond was the reason why she hadn't come out and said so already, so he decided to accelerate the process.

Meanwhile, Chartreuse's mind raced to figure out how to salvage this, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. However, Steven only looked more and more sure of himself the longer she remained silent. In a moment of panic, she removed her hand from his head and shoved him to the side hard enough so he'd lose his grasp on her arm. She stood up stepped back a bit, and upon seeing him no-sell her rejection, the Diamond became visibly _pissed._

She dealt with this the only way she knew how: she bent over, glaring hard at Steven while a hole silently appeared behind him. When it was clear no amount of her facade made the boy falter from his convictions, she growled and punted him down the hole before summoning a giant vase for the sole purposed of slamming it into the stone floor to shatter it in as many pieces as she could. That felt good, but she could feel better.

Before Chartreuse could summon anything else to vent out her anger, however, a sudden projection of White Diamond made her halt in her tracks before she remembered herself and saluted accordingly. "M-my Diamond! All Crystal Gems are c-captured and accounted for!"

"Ah… so nice to see that you're no longer delusional by calling me your equal," White Diamond commended her. "That makes me very proud of you, my Twilight."

In all honesty, the "My Diamond" part was more force of habit, as she had been saying that all her life as Peridot. But thinking back on it, Chartreuse recalled that White had a very poor reaction to literally the first thing she said after ascending to Diamondhood. She still felt residual pain from said reaction even now. "O-of course, My Diamond. Always proud to serve… a-as always. … Awaiting further commands."

Now that she really thought about it, was she truly any different from the Peridot she was before?

"We need Pink fully aboard to rebuild the Diamond Authority," White told her. "I've already distracted your other friends with masses of Peridots to leave them under the impression you're in there somewhere – thank you for inspiring such a fantastic idea. This is precisely why I spared so many of the little wretches, as they certainly don't need their free will to run my planet as they need to."

Chartreuse didn't expect to hear this. "A-am I hearing you right, My Diamond? Out of all the gems you've… m-made in your image, you went out of your way to spare _my_ kind?"

"Not every single one, if you're wondering," White assured. "But to coax you back to your correct allegiance, it occurred to me they might be an easy way for me to do so. I never had to resort to them, of course, but failing that, I knew they would at least serve as distractions for your former friends. It all worked out. What I ask of you is to live up to a Diamond's standards and bring Pink fully back to our side. It's perfectly fine if she's figured out who you really are; if anything, that should make it even easier for you to sway her. You're better off with her knowing you're a close friend at this point rather than having to sell her into something as a complete stranger. Well done on keeping the others out of the loop, by the way. Expert timing on decommissioning the fusion before she blew your cover."

"O-of course!" Chartreuse forced a smile. "I thank you for your leniency and your kind words, My Diamond! I'll get straight to work on convincing Pink Diamond to serve under you again."

"I will keep in touch; for the moment there seems to be some… compromised structural integrity across the planet due to Homeworld's sudden over-saturation of liquid hydrogen in the crust I must oversee." Chartreuse gulped at that, but she remained otherwise firm. She had no idea if White actually knew that was her fault. It felt like something she would have been heavily berated for if she knew… "I trust you won't need a pallid monitor to do your job correctly now that you've proved to be able to not let your personal feelings interfere with your mission. But when we speak again, I had better see Pink Diamond by your side, ready to initiate our new world order. Is that clear?"

"C-crystal, My Diamond!" Chartreuse assured with a salute. It was harder and harder to hide her nervousness the longer this went on.

"Very good. That will be all."

"Understood. Peridot, out!"

Chartreuse was extremely thankful White had already cut the transmission before she finished that sentence. She just accidentally referred to herself by her old name. And now she was all by her lonesome again… beside herself with conflict and confusion, though the new Diamond had a much clearer understanding on what was really going on here. Despite ascending to the same level as White Diamond, the latter wasted no time micromanaging Chartreuse every chance she got. There was the illusion of influence, power, and freedom… but that's all it was.

She was still Peridot even now, just with a growth spurt and a makeover.

As much as Chartreuse wished to help all of her friends, she rightfully assumed they would be in no danger if all they had to contend with were swarms of Era 2 Peridots. To give off the illusion that any one of them could be her, they would all have to be stripped of their limb enhancers, so they wouldn't be a threat to anybody.

But Steven was a priority now in more ways than one. While she had this small window of time where White wasn't watching her, Chartreuse teleported herself to the pocket dimension she deposited Steven inside. She needed to make the most of this time; Chartreuse was sorrowful that she even entertained the notion of being truly aligned with White, but she had no time to dwell on it. She needed to make every second count.

* * *

When Chartreuse Diamond reached Steven, she found a rather dark and cramped pocket dimension, almost entirely dark save for a few dim lights. It almost looked like some seedy motel room. What drew the Diamond's attention immediately was the mass of rose-tinted bubbles containing the gemstones of other Peridots. "Whoa… what happened here?"

Steven was in the process of sending off the bubbles one-by-one to a safe and much happier home on Earth. "Oh, back so soon? Don't worry about the mess here; I knew none of them were the real Peri. I'm gonna give 'em the same chance I gave you a long time ago: a home where they'll be free to be themselves and find real friends."

He certainly didn't waste time cutting straight to the point. "Steven, I… I promise I'll explain this. I'd help you, but I don't know if Chartreuse considers the Earth "home" anymore… I'd probably send them back to their Kindergartens."

"Aw, get outta here with that!" Steven sounded very sure of himself. "You're still you, no matter what form you take. You still wanna go home to Earth, don't you?"

Chartreuse finally gave up her strong front. "More than anything else. Steven, I'm so sorry…"

"Then give me a hand here," Steven urged her. "We decided in addition to bringing you home, we're gonna save as many Homeworld gems as we can. They've got no future here, you know? If I can do something to make sure nobody else dies, I'm gonna do it. Especially since these are the first gems I've seen since coming here that look normal…"

The taller Diamond nodded sadly and assisted Steven with sending away her fellow Peridots to Earth. "Steven, listen to me: White's not hanging over my head right now. She was before; less than a minute after I kicked you down here, she contacted me and gave me some backhanded praise for capturing you all. But right now, we can speak freely, only I don't know how long we'll have that freedom. We really, _really_ need to talk."

"All the more reason to get your sisters to Earth as soon as possible!" Steven was unflappable; he was going to press on with this even if it did waste their limited free time to be candid. "We'll come up with something if we run out of time, okay? White might not be able to hear us if we're in one of my bubbles."

Chartreuse rolled her eyes as she tapped the bubbles as quickly as she could. "Just because they're the same gem as I am doesn't make them my siblings, Steven. That's like me saying all little adolescent male humans are your siblings." The only ones she would consider sisters - in the broadest sense of the word - would be her fellow Peridots from the 5X cut series. And Chartreuse learned the hard way that at least a few of them were dead on arrival. She had no means of identifying the survivors, if there were any. "And it's possible you might be able to block her out; your powers are Diamond-level, too, so if anyone could ward her away, it'd be you. But just seeing us in your bubble together could give her the impression that we're colluding against her, Steven. We need to give her the impression that I'm doing what I'm told…"

Steven looked to Chartreuse sternly while he tapped the remaining bubbles. "Peridot, you said you're the Diamond of Willpower now. Aren't you able to make her see whatever you want her to see with just a thought?"

"It's… complicated," Chartreuse muttered. "Steven, she's the one who awakened me, and I'm extremely inexperienced. If I screw up, we're done. I can't take that risk. And there's more to it… b-but, I'll try, okay? I haven't been able to talk to anybody but White for… however long I've been here."

"Almost a week," Steven sadly confirmed. "I hate that it took us this long to come for you, but everyone wanted to be ready for this mission. This time, we're not leaving anybody behind."

Chartreuse brushed away a tear as she tapped the final bubble on her end. "Steven, I'm so sorry. I tried; I _really_ tried to make it to you–"

She was cut off mid-sentence by an unexpected hug from Steven. It was weird given their height difference now, but it made the Diamond struggle all the more to maintain her composure.

"I know you tried. We all know you didn't just throw your life away," Steven softly told her. "Maybe it's on us for not considering your, uh, less-than-graceful habits. But it's like you told me last time… sometimes, bad stuff just happens and we can't do anything about it." He looked up to the Diamond towering over him. "Uh, can you make yourself a better size? I wanna be able to be on eye level with you, Dot. Just like we always have."

It was then that Chartreuse Diamond noticed all the Peridots had been sent to Earth. She nodded to Steven and willed herself to a more appropriate size for the tiny teen, now just a little under a foot higher than him. She could fully embrace Steven now, and she basked in that comfort as Steven concealed them both within a thick, protective bubble. Chartreuse Diamond also shed herself of her alterations to the more shameful aspects of her appearance; her eyes were blue and hazel once again, and the peridot gemstone gleamed with the diamond fused between it.

Chartreuse took a moment to think of an illusion to fool White into thinking she was following orders; she manipulated the scenery to make both themselves and the bubble invisible to her eyes and conjured a scene of herself dramatically trying to talk sense into Steven, who would eventually morph into Pink Diamond just to further appease White.

"Are we really alone now?" Steven softly asked her.

"As much as we can be, given the circumstances," Chartreuse sighed out. "Steven, I'm so sorry!" She threw herself into the young man's arms and started to cry. "I really, really wanted to just turn back into Peridot and run away with you the second you got here! But even if I did that, you all would see this stupid thing on my forehead and you'd know right away I gave in and betrayed you all! White wouldn't have let me get far if I did that, anyway! I'm her stupid pet project!"

Steven happily consoled his distraught beloved gem and absorbed every word she said. "I get it, okay? I'm kinda disappointed you really thought we'd reject you over something like that, but… I know from experience it isn't easy to accept being a Diamond. Turning into something you and everyone around you hates… it's normal you'd freak out. U-um, are you the real deal? I'm just curious; it's so mindblowing that another Diamond could exist at all…" He carefully felt at the gemstone on Chartreuse's forehead, which she allowed.

"Steven, I know you and Garnet saw my weird eyes," Chartreuse told him. "You found out what they really looked like well before I did. Do you know what that makes me?"

"We had a discussion about it in our first team meeting," Steven affirmed, nodding. "Gems who emerge with heterochromia are randomly-chosen scientific experiments to make them better at what they do best. But Pearl, Bismuth, Garnet, and Lapis had tons of stories about gems in the past who were made with eyes like yours… it didn't end well for any of them. Especially poor Fluorite…"

Chartreuse sighed as she thought back on that particular tale. "Well... that's one chunk of exposition I don't have to give, at least. Did any of you know who was behind the experiments, or what was put in the injector fluid of all those examples they listed?"

"Nope… though with what I've seen since touching down here again, I'm guessing the Diamonds were behind all of the experiments, right?" Steven wouldn't put it past them, and Chartreuse nodded to confirm his suspicions were correct. "No one knows what your injector fluid got tampered with… but, Peridot. We don't think any less of you. Besides… I think it's kinda cool you got different-colored eyes. It happens with humans too, but it's kind of a rare thing that's more of a natural genetic thing without any weird science about it."

"Oh, Steven…" Chartreuse blushed at his compliment. "Obviously, I didn't know I was destined to be a science experiment the moment I came out of my rock until very recently. It looks like no one knew, really… it's not like I got any special treatment, you know?"

Steven patted Chartreuse on the back. He could tell the poor gem has been through several times over the amount of trauma she suffered during the mission she was in charge of. And somehow, she had to hold out for a week by herself… Steven couldn't help but feel guiltier that they waited this long to come back for her. "You hid in plain sight because no one expected you'd be experimented on; we know. S-still, does that mean you're not really a Diamond or what?"

Chartreuse hugged Steven tightly. "My injector fluid was tampered with diamond dust, just like all the other experiments. Unlike the rest, an extra ingredient was added to mine. See, I was one of the last gems created on Homeworld. This was the Diamonds' last chance to perform an experiment of any kind, which is why they resorted to messing with a Peridot. White Diamond added… a shard that broke off from Yellow Diamond several thousand years ago – back when Pink was still with them. She could heal the injury but couldn't replace the shard. So White Diamond hoarded it and saved it for a rainy day… only to forget about it until she only had one more chance to make use of it. So, long story short… my injector fluid was altered with unnatural ingredients, meaning I emerged with a piece of Diamond deep in my gemstone. So, to answer your question… this is actually my birthright. I was a horrible, wicked gem in my pre-Earth days; a lot of that had to do with the fact that I was part-Diamond. You can see now that White forced the shard to grow and develop with the diamond dust inside me; it was originally embedded deep into my original gemstone. Now it's fully developed and they're one and the same… which at least means I can switch from this form to Peridot whenever I want."

"That's great news!" Steven was overjoyed to hear this. "S-so, why haven't you gone back to being Peri, yet? I miss seeing you…"

"Because, Steven, we're not risking that if there's even a slight chance that White Diamond can see us," Chartreuse reminded him. "Besides… I don't deserve to be Peridot right now. A-and I really need your help, because I had been fighting off White Diamond's influence for most of the week. She somehow finally got me not long before you and the others came here. I assume you've been honing your skills inherited from your maternal unit; I don't believe I've seen you able to sense me like this before."

Steven nodded. "My powers have been acting up ever since we got back to Earth. I think having to leave you behind triggered something in me, because I ended up sleeping for almost a whole day before everyone woke me up using… well, I'll get into that later. I wanna talk to you about a lot of things, Peri, but I don't wanna keep us here too long, either." Steven did sense something strange about Chartreuse's aura; he struggled to define what he felt. "I'm definitely getting a weird read on your aura now that I'm focusing on it without any distractions. It's almost like, uh… I'm not sure if this is the right way to phrase it, but it feels like there's another Peri inside you, Dot. Some part of you isn't where it should be, or something."

The Diamond thought hard on that assessment. "I went from resisting White Diamond and being defiant towards her for a week to… feeling subservient and accommodating. I've been more afraid of everything, lately… I'm doubting myself at every turn. I don't really feel like me, Steven. And I gave you and everyone else so much grief because I'm so stupid and insecure and I don't know why! _Steven, I'm so sorry!_ "

This definitely seemed like something Steven needed to investigate; it felt like with his powers, he was the only one who could heal his torn friend. He rested both hands on her shoulders and pulled the Diamond down to get her attention. "Shh, shh. It's gonna be alright, Peridot. Just relax for a bit, okay? I think I can help you. You trust me, right?"

Chartreuse smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek. "More than anyone I've ever known."

"Good…" Steven could almost see Peridot staring right back at him in that moment. She even sounded like her old self. "Just close your eyes, and if you start feeling funny, remember who's with you here. You're not alone anymore, Peridot. You're safe now."

Once he felt Chartreuse completely relax herself in his hold, Steven raised up and gently kissed the gemstone on her forehead. He closed his eyes, and within seconds, Steven found himself floating around without Chartreuse in his arms. He was by himself now, and his entire body was tinted heavily with his mother's pink aura. That was a side-effect Steven expected, at least, so he forged ahead. He saw various memories pass by as he hovered over to what looked like a modest little dome-shaped house in the center of Chartreuse's consciousness. Along the way, Steven saw the flashes of Peridot looking fondly at a picture of him, keeping it close to her body as her she felt all her worries and woes melt away. He saw a few of the daydreams Peridot discussed in her final message to Steven pass by, as well as some very unpleasant scenes that whizzed by Steven, such as Peridot's encounter with 9FC and the cruel way she obtained Yellow Pearl's gemstone.

He saw bits and pieces of the memories White Diamond forced her to see, which were the most haunting for Steven to witness. This was back when Peridot looked so cold and menacing like her first few encounters with Steven – only somehow even worse as he saw the key parts of how Peridot treated her fellow kin. He saw exactly what Peridot had to do to earn that mission to Earth, and he finally understood what Peridot talked about in her message about how she had to be a remorseless murderer to have the opportunity to be rehabilitated by him and the other Crystal Gems. He almost panicked seeing Peridot nonchalant at best and completely unresponsive at worst when other Peridots were shattered right next to her. He struggled not to feel sick when he watched a sinister 5XG grind the remains of 3UI into dust right in front of her coworkers just to illustrate a point.

Steven was so glad he made the effort to send off all the Peridots in his room to Earth; just the snippets of key bits in Peridot's life were highly disturbing to see. He wanted to see some happier times, and just before Steven reached his destination he saw the moment they first kissed, as well as the kiss he initiated in their final battle before their separation. The last thing he saw before landing in front of the door was a mature version of himself alongside a mature version of Peridot, in a loving embrace with a bundle covered in a blanket held expertly in Peridot's arms. Steven smiled at that one; it seemed that scary daydream Peridot claimed to have had an ending to it after all.

He didn't expect to see a literal house, even if it was a very oddly-styled one, in Peridot's subconscious. Still, he sensed a piece of Peridot inside this establishment. There was nowhere else to go. So, he knocked on the door gently, looking very uncertain about this.

He jumped back and cried out when the door was answered by an exact copy of himself, only this Steven was properly colored. He was no less freaked out to see another him on the other side of the door.

"I-I'm sorry!" Steven pleaded to his double. I didn't know there was already a Steven in there helping her-"

" _Oh, geez… you're the real deal, aren't you?"_

Steven raised an eyebrow at the copy of him behind the door. "Uh, last time I checked… are you not? I mean, how did another me get in here, anyway? And you found Peridot before I did!"

" _Well, I've sorta always been in here,"_ the other Steven sheepishly admitted. _"Can you wait out here just a minute? I need to make sure Peri's rested enough to see you right now… she's not gonna expect this at all."_

The pink Steven nodded in understanding and descended back to the door and waited as the other Steven tended to Peridot. There seemed to be a lot of rustling about inside, but Steven wasn't about to peek in to see for himself. He'd already learned a great deal more about Peridot on his own than he probably should have on this trip alone; Steven had to push all those new details aside to properly focus on what he came here for.

A minute later, the other Steven opened the door again and invited his pink counterpart inside. _"S-sorry about that; we weren't exactly expecting guests. Come on in; I kinda didn't tell Peridot you're the one she's about to meet. I just told her to expect a surprise, so if she has a really over-the-top reaction, heh…"_

"Aw, I'd expect that out of her no matter what," Steven said with a chuckle. "Um, so you said you've always been here…?"

" _Because Peri created me. I'm her idealized version of you, Steven. The one who's been appearing in all the not-real stuff you may have been seeing on your way here…"_ The false Steven blushed a bit in embarrassment.

"Really?" Steven had a hard time believing this. "But you look exactly like me. And as far as I can tell, you talk like I do…"

" _That's what happens when two friends know each other really well,"_ the other Steven explained. _"Especially when they end up being more than just friends. I'd tell you about her real feelings, but if you saw her video…"_

"Definitely saw the video," Steven assured. "Don't worry; once we get out of this White Diamond mess and get everyone home to Earth, I'm sure I'm gonna be spending the next few days just going over _all_ of that with her. I'll take good care of her, like I'm sure you've been doing for the Peri I'm about to meet. I just thought… I dunno, an "idealized" me might be cooler-looking or some kinda genius like her. Maybe more like Pierre?"

" _Nah, nothing like that. Maaaaybe a little smarter, but I think that's more of her seeping into my head due to being her creation than it is me. You've never been anything but yourself around her, Steven. And she loves everything about you. As long as you're with her, being yourself, Peridot's never gonna ask anything more of you. I'll let her explain what part of Peri she is and the situation."_ The Peri-construct of Steven stopped walking along with the genuine article by this point. _"I'll, uh, let you two have some privacy. Just… thank you, for coming. She's gone through a lot and needed a lot of time to rest up and heal. I think you can fully restore her in no time at all."_

Steven smiled and gave a thumbs-up to his properly-colored twin. "Hey… thanks for helping her hang in there." Once he got a mutual thumbs-up gesture, he headed into the next room to find Peridot sitting at the edge of a large, comfy bed. She was almost completely wrapped around in her blanket, staring idly at the fireplace across from her until she heard someone, presumably her imaginary Steven approach… only to find a Pink Steven approaching instead. The imaginary Steven stepped in for a moment to give Peridot a quick wave to indicate this was another Steven altogether before he disappeared again.

"Another Steven?!" Peridot was too stunned to leave the bed right away. "But I don't– h-how?! Wh-what Steven are you, anyway?!"

"A friendly one," Steven assured. "One who's with the you in the real world right now. But she has a problem; she's not feeling like herself and it's really messing her up. I used Mom's aura powers to track you down and fix the problem, so… here I am. It's not my real body, but I guess it's my real consciousness reaching out to you. How've you been holding up, Dot?"

"T– _Terribly!_ " Peridot couldn't hold in her tears as she leaped up to meet Steven halfway, nearly tripping over herself in the process, but ended up landing right into Steven's arms. "W… wow. … Thanks."

Steven smiled and helped lift the gem back up to her feet. "Anytime," he softly told her. "So, is this an appropriate time to–"

Peridot wouldn't let him finish that sentence, and plugged his mouth shut with hers to shut him up. Even though he looked a little ridiculous in a pink palette, she couldn't care less. The real Steven had actually come to her rescue. Steven let her take as much time as she needed for the kiss, but found himself gasping out of it when he felt a sharp jab in his gut and saw Peridot looking royally pissed off at him all of a sudden.

" _That_ is for deliberately disrespecting my final order as your leader and coming back for me after I spent all that time telling you why you shouldn't come back!" she barked at him. "Not to mention disrespecting the sacrifice I had to make just to save you clods! If we don't make it out of here this time, don't you dare expect me to _ever_ forgive you."

Then her anger faded and she gently hugged Steven. "But I can't stay mad at you. You know that. I'm sorry, I… I go out of my way to make sure I don't directly cause you harm these days, but you forced my hand this time, Steven Universe. I might hit you again if we all die on this rock, just as a fair warning. I-I just, I…"

Steven smiled once he recovered from that blow and could breathe easy again. "I think I see what real-world Peri's problem is. She's apologized to me millions of times already, she's been super indecisive, and she's terrified to act against White Diamond, even before we got here. It didn't match up with her story that you resisted her for nearly a week. I believe her, but White obviously did a number on you. So, let me guess… you're the backbone she ripped outta Peri and locked away. She can't reach you and you can't break out, and by this point she's too afraid to even try."

Peridot tilted her head at Steven. "Backbone…? That's one of your Earth metaphors, right?"

"Yep. For all the little things about you that you showed off so well when you rescued me and my friends," Steven told her with a particular fondness to his voice. "The part of you that was willing to call me out on my destructive behavior when I couldn't handle Bismuth taking a life so we could escape White Diamond, even if you ran the risk of hurting my feelings and kinda did, but… you needed to do it, and I needed to hear it. Your spirit, your determination, your courage…" He ran his fingers through her hair, taking notice that this Peridot also had a diamond in the middle of her gemstone. "The strongest part of your willpower, which is what you represent as a Diamond."

"O-oh, that's what you meant…" Peridot blushed and let herself enjoy Steven's loving attention. "Yeah, I don't think any of you have seen the _real_ Chartreuse Diamond yet. Not that I wanted to be her to begin with… the only reason it happened is because White Diamond got desperate."

Steven nodded in understanding; White Diamond seemed to like to make up the rules as she went and change them on a whim if it suited her own desires. "Are you okay to talk about it? I wanna know how she did it. I'm not totally sure how I'm gonna break you out of here yet, so an idea of what she did exactly would help a lot."

Peridot's smile faded a bit. "It would be quicker to just show you, but… oh, you're far too sensitive to handle certain bits of it. Honestly, you're a bit of a wuss, Steven. Be thankful I find that aspect of you charming, because it can get annoying to work around at times."

"Oh, are you challenging me?" Steven smirked. "You'd better just show me, then. This is something I need to see anyway, right?"

"Aha, it is…" Peridot was conflicted for a moment before she nodded to Steven with a dead serious look on her face. "One thing that should help you get through this: no matter how bad or gruesome things get, always keep in mind they aren't really happening. It was all set up that way to make _me_ think it was real… and of all things, falling for this was just the worst. Just put your hand over my gemstone and concentrate. I'll do the rest."

Steven nodded and did as he was instructed. As he closed his eyes, he witnessed the final game White Diamond put Peridot through before resorting to cheating to force the gem to reform in the real world. He witnessed the incredibly hard-to-watch sequence of White Diamond forcing the benign diamond shard inside Peridot's gemstone to fully develop and grow well before it was supposed to, which caused Peridot endless pain until the diamond was fully cultivated. By far the most upsetting sight was the energy blade constantly by Peridot's neck that was only being held back by her bare hands that were getting mutilated in the process. Still, even as her body was getting cut apart, Peridot refused to give in. Steven didn't really understand why this was happening, but then came the moment where he saw himself come to Peridot's rescue. He was happy to see Peridot able to smile again after all that - his mere presence was that powerful for her. But that feeling was quickly dashed when Steven saw that it was the sight of him that caused Peridot to finally lose the struggle. His hands balled into fists and small tears spilled from his still-closed eyes as he could fully see why and how Peridot was tricked into giving up. Just like the game from the beginning, White Diamond had to resort to very dirty tactics to force Peridot to lose. He briefly saw the Peridot currently with him wake up in the imaginary Steven's arms, establishing that the consequence for losing was her imprisonment in this very place. Meanwhile, in the real world, a very frightened and confused Peridot woke up and was much quicker to comply with White Diamond's demands now that the strongest part of her had been forcibly ripped out and sealed away. This ensured White Diamond's control over the gem who would eventually become Chartreuse Diamond.

Steven's hand moved away from Peridot's gemstone; that was all she had to show. Peridot was startled to see that instead of scaring the boy to death or making him sick to his stomach… or even just cry out of sympathy for her own plight, Steven was visibly _angry._ Angry enough that he wanted to hurt somebody for what he had to see; that somebody being White Diamond.

"Okay… I didn't expect a reaction like this," she warily admitted. "Fair play to that, Steven." He was still seething. "Uh, you're gonna be okay, right?"

Peridot quickly got her answer: no, he wasn't. She took a few steps back as the pink Steven's aura seemed to flare wildly; real concern arose when Steven's hair seemed to grow out and flare up just like his aura. Then his body started to grow, but not to the usual extremes of a Diamond's height. Instead, his body seemed to properly develop, as if this was what Steven needed to kickstart his belated puberty. Now, he actually looked his age, but Steven was still in a burning rage.

Peridot honestly wasn't sure what to make of this; Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst might have some insight, but of course none of them were here now to offer any input. "Steven, cut it out! I told you none of that really happened! It was all meant to trick me, not a stupid clod like you! Calm down, already!"

But words weren't getting through to Steven. The same few seconds of Peridot on the verge of losing her fingers, then seeing Steven to come save her, only for that view to be the direct cause of Peridot finally losing the battle of willpower and getting her neck brutally sliced open for her troubles on top of that… that's all he could see now, and it was driving him mad.

This was making Peridot very concerned, and very much regretting ever showing Steven those memories. Once the pupils in his eyes became diamond-shaped, Peridot knew she needed to do _something_. Clearly, he was having an internal war with his power and possibly the spirit of his mother's dual identities; his hair was even beginning to more closely resemble Pink Diamond's. The gemstone in his navel was burning white hot, similar to how Peridot's own gemstone burned when her diamond was being forced out. Before Steven could grow any taller, she leaped up to meet the hybrid at eye level, grabbed him by the cheeks, and kissed him as hard as she could. It was worrying when he didn't immediately return to his peaceful, loving self. Peridot wouldn't give up, but absolutely nothing was getting through to Steven. She was now clueless on how to resolve this and was still reliant on Steven to bust her out of the prison White stored her in.

"St-Steven, come on! You can get pissed over this the next time you see White Diamond, okay?! This is _not_ the time or the place to lose it!" Since Peridot had been locked away before ascending fully to Chartreuse Diamond, she found she couldn't access the power on command. She had briefly shifted into the form upon the first ascension, but it wore off rather quickly. And if Peridot was being honest with herself, she didn't really want to become Chartreuse, anyway. That was something she'd have to deal with in the outside world whether she liked it or not. "At _least_ get me out of here before you do something stupid, please?!"

Oddly enough, that request seemed to register. Steven grabbed Peridot and held her tightly against his chest before dashing straight into a wall, which to Peridot's shock, he made a hole clean through. Not just the wall, but the entirety of the modest little settlement, with Peridot being shielded from any debris. Steven transitioned straight into jetting it out of the zone, intent on returning to the real world. Peridot was grateful for this, at least. Once Steven got past a certain radius, she'd be able to return to where she properly belonged in her host body's consciousness. She was not looking forward to dealing with this rage-induced Steven in the real world, but since she'd become a whole gem very soon, and consequently a whole Diamond, she stood a much better chance in doing something about this. Just as the aura light around Steven became blindingly bright, Peridot felt herself convert into her natural, formless state and prepared to meet the hybrid in their cramped pocket dimension.

* * *

Mere seconds after Chartreuse Diamond regained her consciousness, she fell face-first into the floor, as the bubble she and Steven were in popped from a still-raging pubescent boy apparently having his own advanced Diamond powers triggered from seeing a single disturbing memory that wasn't his own.

"Ugh, this is all so _disgusting_ ," Chartreuse grumbled as she struggled to get to her feet. "The thought of me letting White treat me the exact same way Yellow did, being a Diamond at _all_ … it won't be pretty having to explain this mess to the rest of the group, and now Steven's put me in a situation where I'm forced to beat the snot outta him." She sighed. "Well, at least I can _do_ that, now."

Chartreuse snagged Steven by the wrist and slammed him _hard_ against the floor. Now that he was back to his true colors, the side-effects looked a great deal more disturbing. Pink swirls clashed terribly with his natural dark brown hair, his clothes didn't grow with his body, and his skin had a very unhealthy pinkish tone to it. The pink irises in Steven's eyes were just distracting to see, and Chartreuse hoped much like her ability to go back and forth between this form and Peridot, that Steven's changes weren't permanent.

"Steven, you'd better get your act together," she warned. "Because it's gonna be bad enough dealing with backlash from your friends when I tell them the truth. They're also gonna blame me for this crap that happened to you if you can't get it under control. Don't _make_ me use my powers on you. I really, really don't want to do this to you, of all people."

Her words fell on deaf ears. Steven continued to growl and flail on the floor like a feral animal.

The Diamond pouted. "I am being as lenient on you as I possibly can, now that my _backbone_ is in its proper place, and this is how you're thanking me? Hmph. Might as well see if you're even thinking at all in that head of yours. Maybe your better half is just stuck in your own mind and I'd be none the wiser if I hadn't thought of the possibility just now."

It seemed like the obvious next course of action, but Chartreuse regretted making the storm going on in Steven's head audible. It was _extremely_ loud, distorted, with a piercing ferocity that made the entire subspace rumble. Not a single comprehensible word was going on in Steven's mind, and Chartreuse quickly willed her action to be canceled.

"O-okay… I think I understand why you're completely out of control, at least," she said, sounding entirely shaken. "If that's all I could hear in my head, I'd be kicking entire planets around like beach balls." Chartreuse willed some reinforcements to keep Steven held down to the floor. She hated doing this to him, but whatever her memory did to trigger Steven did far more damage to the boy than she ever could have imagined. "There's no way I can bring you to the others like this. I gotta fix this, but you're not making it easy for me, Steven! There has to be _some_ semi-sane part of you still in there somewhere…"

The Diamond grumbled. "If I had powers like yours, I could just dive into your soul and set things right like you did for me, but… _nnngh_." She realized a rather annoying limitation to her powers just then. "I could try and will myself to share your powers, except I don't understand this aura crap _at all_. I'm fairly certain I don't have the right mindset to be a true empath like you, Steven. Messing with your mentality with powers I don't fully comprehend is _way_ too huge of a risk to take. I could inflict irreparable damage!"

This situation quickly deteriorated from an annoyance to a genuine cause of distress. "Steven, I need to be able to communicate with you somehow," she pleaded. "I can't help you if I don't know what your real problem is." Chartreuse placed a hand over Steven's forehead, which was very heated by this point. "And you're feverish on top of that. C-come on, _some_ part of you must be able to communicate…"

Finally, another idea hit her. "You know, I'll own up to my mistake in showing Steven something that set him off… but these side-effects… this is the fault of his maternal unit." She glared down at the still-glowing gemstone in Steven's navel. "You're the one tearing my center of gravity apart!" Chartreuse moved her hand to hover closely over the diamond once owned by Steven's mother. "One way or another, I'm forcing you out so you can explain what you're doing to your own offspring! Pink Diamond, Rose Quartz, whoever you are! _Get out here!_ "

Chartreuse Diamond concentrated hard on the gemstone, and a much thicker pink aura enveloped the teenage boy. She knew based on gem law that she couldn't physically drag out Steven's mother, but that didn't mean she couldn't summon her spirit. There had to be _something_ of Steven's mother still in existence besides her gem and the son she left behind for Steven to be turning into… whatever he was turning into; Chartreuse still had no idea what was happening in that regard.

She nearly fell back when a ghostly apparition of Pink Diamond sat up from Steven's body; it was rather sudden. Pink's spirit looked like she had just awoken from a nightmare, and she froze when she saw Chartreuse sitting nearby. Chartreuse, in turn, couldn't help but feel a little terrified to see any form of the Pink Diamond most of her friends knew and raved about.

After all, she just remembered how often she verbally slammed this Diamond as Peridot.

" _Oh. Oh my… Are you… a_ _ **new**_ _Diamond?!"_

"V-very much new," Chartreuse stammered. "Ascended from the Peridot who is friends with your offspring. I-I summoned you because I don't know what else to do for him. He's changing in ways I've never before seen, and I don't know what it means. But I know it's got something to do with you, s-so… I want you to tell me what's going on with Steven. Right now. I can't stand seeing him like this any longer!"

Pink studied Chartreuse for a moment. _"Aha! I see, now. I'm sorry White did that to you, dear. It's lovely to finally meet you after all this time… my little Steven's girlfriend."_

Chartreuse held up her hands in defense. "H-hey, we're not _that_ far along, yet. We haven't exactly had time to figure out the new parameters of our relationship…"

Pink just smirked at the young Diamond at her side. _"I know my Greg is already seeing you as a future in-law. Steven's thoughts are always flowing through me; with every passing day, he more often thinks of you. He's beginning to have dreams that resemble your own; the ones you've told him about, at least. You two have all the time in the world to learn the full extent of your feelings, and I suspect it won't be long before you reach a mutual understanding of how strongly you two love each other. As a "maternal unit", I couldn't be happier for Steven."_

Chartreuse's inner Peridot wanted to die from embarrassment then and there. She couldn't suppress her blushing, but she could quickly catch a detail that would hopefully shift the topic. "R-right, of course. You have my word that I'll never leave his side. Um… Pink Diamond, you said you could always pick up on Steven's thoughts? Is there anything you're hearing from him that I'm not? Whatever's going on in his head right now sounds extremely unhealthy… and feels even more so. I'm not gonna be able do for him what he did for me; there has to be another way to restore balance to Steven's body and mind. Do you not see the side-effects of your influence on him?!"

" _Oh, dear…"_ Pink looked down at her son on the floor, who didn't thrash around as much since she was summoned, but he was very restrained in his movements right now as well. _"Sweetheart, you were right to show him your memories. Don't ever doubt that. But I've seen it myself; the moment White tricked you and sliced your neck as you thought Steven had saved you… that single moment is playing in his mind in an endless loop. He knows it's not real, obviously, but just seeing such a thing happen to you… Steven has become very conflicted. This single act is making him want to toss aside his pacifism and annihilate White Diamond personally – this is how much you mean to him right now, you see. That even a staged scene like this, that he knows is staged, has enraged him to the point where he wants to completely throw away his morals. The conflict, of course, is that Steven isn't fully lost; there's still a part of him that clings to his ideology. But his feelings are so strong right now, the words aren't coming through… just his raw feelings."_

"That… would explain why it sounds like a literal war zone inside his head," Chartreuse conceded. "And… wow. I never thought I'd see a day where Steven would challenge his own morals. So, he'll be internally at war with himself until he can decide what he's sticking with, right? He won't be at peace with himself until then, and this will continue… and I triggered this."

" _It's actually best that this happened now,"_ Pink assured. _"Better now than in the middle of a battle, or while you're trying to escape this planet. You opened his eyes somewhat last week when you told him about the necessary evils of being forced to do whatever it takes to stay alive, even if it betrays everything you stand for. With that one memory, Steven can fully visualize what could happen to you or anyone else he cares about if he continues to cling to his morals at all times."_ She sadly looked to Chartreuse. _"I'm aware you don't have a high opinion of me or how I see things, and that's okay. I understand certain friends of yours have made me out to be a saint, and you're one of the few who can look at Steven and not immediately think of me. I'm proud of you that you can judge Steven only for his actions; it breaks my heart so many others want him to pay for my crimes."_

"I… I guess I shouldn't be surprised you're aware that I've criticized you very heavily… sometimes needlessly." Chartreuse was afraid of this; she never expected to speak with Steven's mother in any capacity, so it seemed like a safe option to not hold back on her contempt for the Diamond who caused so much trouble for everyone with her double-life, only to leave her son to deal with the consequences of her actions. "I would apologize for my actions, but it's impossible for me to be honest about that sentiment. Despite that, I… if you can help me with Steven, then I do not mind agreeing to a truce, Pink. You're an extremely flawed individual, but I would never doubt your love for your offspring. You did sacrifice your own existence for his…"

Pink smiled, looking content with that answer. _"Then I suppose you don't mind offering me your hand? The only way we're going to break through Steven's internal struggle is to intervene with our feelings enhanced with your willpower. You may need to be patient to see a result, but this is the only way you can reach him now. While Steven fights with himself, remind him you're still here. Make sure he knows his behavior is harming you directly. Let him know you want the fighting to end."_

Chartreuse looked uncertain about this, but reluctantly offered her hand for Pink to take. "I think I understand your motive here," she cautiously said. "You know I can't replicate abilities I don't understand, such as this aura business, but that's the only way I could ever get through to Steven. So, you'll be the one who transmits my feelings in that format, am I correct?"

" _You're a clever one; I'll give you that,"_ Pink cheerfully affirmed as she held Chartreuse's hand with both of hers. _"It's a good thing; my Steven needs a sensible lady to keep him in line. Now, make sure you can gather as many positive thoughts and feelings as you can, okay? Positive energy will neutralize this inner conflict of his. You can share whatever you like with me. For example… I've noticed that, perhaps Steven's unprecedented conception has made you curious. I've never seen a gem so quickly adapt to Earth culture and embrace the human spirit quite like you. Consequently, you've often dreamed of your future being more like the life of a human rather than a gem."_

That induced a hot blush, but Chartreuse Diamond nodded to Pink as she tried to find the words to respond. "W-well, there's so much about human culture that has no equivalent in a gem's lifestyle. Things like marriage and beyond… I thought maybe it was weird that I was so fascinated with these customs while most gems just seemed to accept it for what it was and move on. And Steven's very existence is so contradictory to everything Homeworld ever taught me. Although, knowing what it cost you…"

" _Your daydreams make it obvious that you're more than curious on how I procreated with Greg, as you wonder if that can extend to other gems as well as other humans. And whether or not other gems will have to pay the price I did for a hybrid child to survive… I wish I had more solid answers for you, but I'm sure you have a good idea why I could procreate with a human in the first place."_ Pink knew way more about Chartreuse's more well-hidden curiosities and desires that she carried from her Peridot persona than the latter anticipated… then again, at a bare minimum, she had to at least know everything Steven already knew.

"Y-yeah," Chartreuse couldn't look Pink in the eyes now. "You're the Diamond of Life. Were, more accurately. It makes sense… if any gem could procreate with a human, it would be you."

" _Wouldn't it stand to reason that Steven also has that ability?"_ Pink gave her fellow Diamond a sly, knowing look. _"In fact, now that you're the Diamond of Will, could you not make yourself receptive to creating life if you wished for it?"_

"Ohmystars, you're seriously talking about this!" Chartreuse felt her entire face heat up and tried to hide her face with her free hand, and for her troubles heard Pink bubble up with laughter. "C-come on, Pink! Do you really think Steven should be hearing this of all things?!"

" _Well, tell me this: what other topic could put a stop to someone's internal civil war quicker than your future children?"_ Pink had to hold in a giggle when Chartreuse squeaked out in utter embarrassment. The Diamond's voice was practically identical to Peridot's by this point, full of high-pitched awkward sounds. _"I know they aren't imminent. You both still have a lot of growing up to do… but it's quite telling that you're both already dreaming of having that kind of life in such detail."_

Chartreuse grumbled; she couldn't really argue Pink's point. "I… I didn't think he would be dreaming about something like that," she uneasily admitted. "Considering I didn't really have much of a life on Homeworld, Steven's the only life I know. S-so, it makes logical sense that I'm getting ahead of myself as far as my imagination is concerned, right? It doesn't make sense for Steven, though… he's had the privilege of being his own person all his life."

" _Remember that he watched your "final" message where you described a certain daydream you had,"_ Pink eagerly pointed out. _"A couple of days later, Steven ended up having dreams about the exact same scenario. It wasn't quite identical to yours, but it was close enough. And just as you felt a degree of happiness and contentment through your dream that you've yet to feel in real life, Steven experienced the same sensation when he dreamed his own version of your family together."_ She could never get tired of seeing Chartreuse flustered like this; the only thing Pink would have liked to see more was a flustered Peridot, since that was her true identity and the form she had taken in all of those dreams, but she understood Chartreuse had to stay in Diamond form for the time being. Her powers would only be hindered right now in her natural state.

" _Hey, now. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Never forget the greatest power you'll ever have is your love for Steven. That aspect of you remains the same, whether you're a Diamond or a Peridot. That love has given you so much strength – and you've greatly matured since you took it upon yourself to save him. Just remember you're giving Steven that same strength in return; his subconscious is trying to prematurely develop his body because he so badly wants to save you."_ They both looked to Steven, who had calmed down quite a bit since Pink was awakened, though his body continued to subtly morph and shift to represent the dominance his Diamond powers had on his body presently. _"Steven is beside himself, furious and confused. That's why we need to focus on getting through to him with happier thoughts… even if they're uncomfortable for you to talk about."_

"I need to start giving back," Chartreuse understood. "Steven's been the human embodiment of selflessness and generosity… I feel like all I ever do is take away from him. I need to return the favor, but gifts or doing good deeds for him never feels like I've done enough to properly return that favor. Of course, Steven won't hear of nonsense like that from me… he still thinks I'm in a prisoner of war-turned-slave's mindset whenever I express how I'd gladly give myself to him. Even that isn't enough…"

" _But you have an idea what would make you feel like your "debit" is repaid,"_ Pink slyly pointed out. _"It would take a very long time to act on it, but I can assure you of one thing, dear. Once your first child is born, the roles will be reversed; Steven will be the one who feels forever indebted to you."_

Chartruese squeaked out in aggravated shame, but she tried to maintain eye contact with Pink now. "B-but, he would have had a hand in the creation of our hypothetical offspring just as much as I would… I-I don't understand why he would give me more credit for a life we created together."

" _Hm… you've obviously been curious enough about reproduction, with humans especially, to do your own extensive research,"_ Pink observed, which once again made Chartreuse want to shatter on the spot. This was so humiliating to talk about. _"But you seem unaware how much more of a burden you will carry to develop that life. For several months, you will be restricted more and more on your freedoms and privileges; this is a sacrifice Steven won't have to make. When the time comes for that new life to emerge from you, you will be in agonizing pain for hours – Steven will not. One day you'll understand why Steven will be inclined to give you the credit once you've experienced how much harder it will be for you. But you'll both agree it was worth it to have created a new sentient being by your own hand. And for you especially…"_ Pink paused as she looked a bit awkward and nervous at Chartreuse before addressing a minor detail. _"Ah, do you mind if I call you Peridot? I don't mean to disrespect you as a Diamond, but even now as I look at you, I'm seeing the little gem my son fell in love with. Your identity as a Diamond has no current role in what we're trying to accomplish with Steven; I just understand you can offer the most of your power in this form."_

The young Diamond didn't expect to hear something like this out of Pink. Now she was the insecure one in this conversation. Chartreuse just realized in all this time, Pink had yet to call her by name; she was never directly addressed to as Chartreuse or Peridot. She wondered if Pink had been intentionally avoiding the topic just so she wouldn't have to ask this question… regardless, Chartreuse smiled warmly to Pink and nodded. "Peridot is fine. You have no idea how much I'd love to be her right now… at least this form has a practical use, but to me, it'll always be a symbol of my weakness. That in spite of all my efforts, White Diamond won."

" _I know an objectivist such as yourself will always see this as a decisive win White has over you, but never forget that she never won over you clean, Peridot. Your will was so great, you forced a Diamond to take the easy way out, because White could not break you with her power alone."_ Pink seemed to greatly admire Chartreuse for this. _"This is not a feat any other gem could boast. Had White not broken her own rules, you would have won. Your tenacity as a low-ranked gem at the bottom of the caste system might have made her shatter in shame if she didn't resort to dirty tricks! In time, I think you'll come to peace with your identity as Chartreuse Diamond. This is sadly something that cannot be undone, but keep in mind that you and Steven alone have the power to rebuild what will soon be lost. Homeworld will soon be no more, and I can assure you that no road to a potential bright future has White Diamond in the picture. Peridot, it will be up to you to convince Steven what the right thing to do will be, even if he does not agree with it."_

Chartreuse was taken aback by this. "So, you're saying… these are definitely Homeworld's final days. White Diamond is beyond redemption. And once she goes… so does the remains of the Diamond authority. Earth will become the new home of the gems we're currently saving, and consequently… Steven and I are going to be the ones the gems all look to for guidance. I-I don't know how I feel about that…"

" _I assure you, neither does he,"_ Pink softly told her. _"But that's nothing to concern yourself with until you all return safely to Earth and deal with White Diamond properly. I wouldn't say necessarily that White Diamond is beyond redemption – but she certainly does not and never will seek it."_

"Of course; it figures White is by far the biggest Diamond clod of all," Chartreuse said dismissively, which got a giggle out of Pink. "I'll do what I can; I certainly won't feel like I can rest until she's taken out. I'll keep in mind about me and Steven cleaning up this mess after the worst of it's over. A-and I'll make a point to do a more thorough research of… carrying an offspring to term." Chartreuse blushed again at the thought. "Pink, you sound so sure that I won't end up like you if that happens…"

" _Steven had no gemstone to inherit but my own,"_ Pink explained. _"Since Greg, of course, did not have one. But with both parties possessing their own gem, the gemetics for your offspring should not carry the risk of that kind of sacrifice; they'll be able to generate their own gemstone during gestation with a unique combination of traits from both your gemstone and Steven's. Clearly, both your subconscious and Steven's are certain you will come out of the experience alive, since one isn't nearly enough for either of you."_

Chartreuse whined as she tried to will away her never-ending embarrassment. "I swear, this had better be helping Steven. I'm willingly humiliating myself in front of his own mother, for stars' sake! I still can't believe I could even create life from my own body, you know? Considering how many lives I've been responsible for ending, it just seems… I don't know, hypocritical? If Steven knew exactly how diabolical I was in my old Homeworld days…"

" _He's already gotten a feel for who you once were,"_ Pink informed the young Diamond. _"Steven has made it clear that your true identity is nothing like it appeared to be on Homeworld. Your past and your present are like night and day, Peridot. And just so you know… Steven has seen some key bits of the memories White Diamond forced you to relive when he came to heal you a little bit ago. Of course, he hated to see them, but he came out of the experience better understanding certain things you told him in your message. For that, Steven is grateful. After all…"_ She looked down to her son, who was slowly stabilizing. _"Do you think Steven would be acting like this if his heart wasn't 100% committed to you, flaws and all?"_

This was a detail Chartreuse overlooked. She was quiet for a moment as she took it in. "I guess you're right… I just don't understand how he can forgive me so easily for all my transgressions. I don't think I've forgiven myself at all. Because I can't justify it… no matter what reason I had for doing what I did at the time. What right do I have to even–" _  
_

" _Peridot, I'll tell you this: once a life emerges from you, you will find the strength to finally forgive yourself."_ Pink sounded dead certain about this detail. _"Because the moment your first child is born, your life is no longer all about you, nor is it all about Steven. It will be all about that life you just created; you won't have time to dwell on a detail from your distant past. The moment you become a mother, Peridot, is when you will truly grow up. So… to the best of your ability, enjoy your youth while you still have it. Once it's gone, it's gone forever. Make sure Steven knows that, too. Although he can hear us very clearly now…"_

"He can?!" Chartreuse looked over to Steven anxiously; he was finally at peace, though the pink alterations to his body remained in place. "Oh, thank the stars… um, Pink, are these changes to him permanent? I'm worried how he'll react if that's the case…"

" _Mm, for the most part, they aren't,"_ Pink mused. _"He's just entering an awakened state of his body that will prove useful for your final battle once Steven masters it. The growth spurt might stick, however… he has aged very slowly due to his partial gem heritage. He looks much more like a true 14 year-old human boy now, and this was brought about from a primal rage that could have only come from his human side, once that gruesome scene of your "death" had sunken into the very core of his body. He could always shapeshift back if he so desires… you may notice similar changes to your form once you revert to Peridot. That's just me speculating, of course… but you are the first ascended gem in history, and the changes to your body are far more extreme than Steven's. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a lingering side effect… I'll admit, though, I'm excited to no longer be the shortest Diamond in history!"_

Chartreuse narrowed her eyes at Pink Diamond with a look that could kill. That was a world record-setting feat of pissing away someone's good will.

"Steven, if your maternal unit is in fact telling the truth and you can hear us, _wake up immediately_ before I find a way to kill a certain maternal clod **twice over**."

Pink Diamond had no time to react before Steven rapidly sat up immediately; as her son's physical body passed through her incorporeal form, she vanished and in a quick flash had returned back into his gemstone.

"P-Peridot, please don't–" Steven paused for a moment to see he was no longer in a vicious battle with himself inside his mind. This was the dark pocket dimension; he was finally back to normal… relatively. "… I'm back? _I'm back!_ "

"I think I was vastly understating it when I said you were a wuss," Chartreuse said smugly. She snapped her fingers to preemptively take care of a problem Steven would be fussing about very soon if she didn't: make his clothes fit his post-growth spurt body. "I don't think I want to know how long you've been listening to that humiliating conversation; the overdose of unending embarrassment will probably kill me for real if you tell me."

Steven was grateful to have the ordeal of his clothes dealt with so swiftly, considering he had to suffer them cutting off his blood circulation the entire time he was out of control. He almost threw himself at Chartreuse the moment he took notice to her, but he stopped himself midway into the action. "H-hey, can you turn back to normal now? Just for a little while? I-It's just I haven't seen my real-world Peri in a week, and after what kept looping in my head…"

Chartreuse Diamond was tempted to remind Steven that was a colossally terrible idea given that she was tasked by White Diamond to "win over" Pink to "their" side, but considering the circumstances, she couldn't bring herself to deny him; not with that desperate look on his face. "Okay, okay; I get it. Just give me a second to take some precautionary measures, and…" The first thing she did was to combine the other pocket dimensions her friends were trapped in into a single entity, save for the one she and Steven were in. That way, White wouldn't know exactly where any of them were any longer. She really didn't want them to have to pay for a stupid mistake she was allowing Steven to make right now. The next order of business was to completely purge their pocket dimension of any kind of White Diamond influence and make it appear as if her fellow Diamonds really did just phase out of existence. She knew White Diamond would be livid once it was time to return to their proper dimension, but she wouldn't be able to _prove_ Chartreuse did anything wrong. "Done." Seconds later, Chartreuse Diamond's form reverted back into Peridot. Outside of her gemstone retaining its diamond, she did feel some subtle changes to her body, as she didn't shrink nearly as drastically as she thought she would have. Steven didn't give her any time to say another word; he pulled the gem over to him and kissed her like he hadn't seen her in years.

Peridot could sort of understand why. Though he had technically seen Peridot not that long ago when she needed help unlocking her sealed-away strongest aspects, this was the first time Steven had seen Peridot in the real world since he was forced to abandon her at the terminal last week. And if she was being honest with herself, Peridot really missed this. She had only been given a few very brief opportunities to indulge in moments like this with Steven, and she quickly found that merely daydreaming about it or even engaging in it through aural form wasn't nearly as satisfactory as the real deal. And really, talking with Pink just made her hunger for it even more. So, truthfully, Peridot was only marginally better disciplined than Steven at this point.

She always made a point to not go _completely_ all-out; Peridot had a feeling she could easily overwhelm Steven and scare him off with her absurdly high levels of affection for the boy, but in this moment, it actually felt more like the other way around. The trauma she inadvertently left on Steven was enough to easily drag him down to her level, and in this case, even lower. Peridot was certain the sudden changes to his body fueled a lot of this passion that was overpowering her own… part of that excited her greatly, but simultaneously made her nervous.

It became much easier to give in once Peridot could rationalize in the sense that Steven needed to get this out of his system one way or another and that this might be their last opportunity for low-risk alone time until they could safely return to Earth. Both of their lives had become infinitely more complicated thanks to this Diamond business, but on the other hand… their destinies were unavoidably intertwined now.

Once Steven nearly asphyxiated himself kissing Peridot over and over again for a few straight minutes, he took a good look at the gem below him and smiled. "I… I like your new outfit," he shyly told her. "S-sorry, I guess I should've… noticed sooner."

"Better late than never," Peridot sighed out. "You have no idea how much I wanted to get out of that stupid Diamond form and just stay like this from now on… with you right here, and the two of us having all the peace and quiet we could ever want."

Steven was glad he wasn't alone in that sentiment. It enabled him to be more open about these sudden desires overwhelming him. "Th-then… let's do that." Peridot looked at him incredulously. "I mean, like, not forever, but… our friends are okay, right…? White's not gonna get them, and they're not in danger?"

"They're surrounded by a bunch of Peridots to stall them since they're all trying to pretend they're me," Peridot informed him. "Meaning none of them have limb enhancers, as that would contradict their purpose. The Crystal Gems couldn't be in any less danger." Having said that, Peridot realized she just lifted any possible guilt Steven would have by acting on his impulses. "A… are you sure everything's okay, Steven?" He did still bear various accents that represented the dominance of his Diamond side, but Peridot wondered if perhaps that wasn't the part of Steven that she should be concerned about. She really didn't want to point out those visible changes right now… Peridot was afraid that might ruin the moment.

Steven sighed with relief. "Couldn't be better now that you told me that," he admitted while taking Peridot's hands into his own, interlacing their fingers together. "Peridot, I finally have you back, and…" He tried to calm himself down; his constant deep breathing would only make the gem doubt his words. "A-and just for a little bit… I wanna be selfish. I want _you_."

"Steven…" Peridot had so many ways to respond, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. Her eyes were locked on his while she tried in vain to suppress her own selfish desires.

"I've been able to read your feelings, Peridot, even through prerecorded footage," Steven confessed. "My powers are just… I dunno how to explain, but I'm not reading your thoughts; I'm reading your feelings. So, it doesn't take long for me to figure out when you're not telling the whole story or when you're outright lying…"

Peridot cringed as she realized that meant Steven had dissected her final message in every way possible. All the feelings she kept to herself in that video, he knew about.

"You know, at first I didn't even wanna watch it," Steven confessed again as his fingers squeezed around the gem's. "It was just too painful after how I last saw you. I put myself in a deep sleep, so nobody could browbeat me into doing it. But our friends found another way. They forced me to listen to you talk about me in their own personal videos. I heard everything! From that alarm you gave to Pearl that nearly split my head open, to you telling Bismuth that you can't live without me to the point that you'll self-corrupt if I died, to you telling Connie that you'd back off if she wanted to date me because you valued your friendship with her and me too much to risk losing it even though you made it obvious to her how much I meant to you – and the whole fusion thing we both never tried because we didn't communicate, to how you told Amethyst how you felt about me in a lot of different ways and how scared you were to risk even losing one part of that if you had to choose how you really felt about me… to how you told my dad how you think I'm responsible for everything you are now after your Homeworld life and can't handle life without me… and with Lapis… y-you were madder about her leaving me and the Earth behind than you were about her leaving you. And how confused you were, how you felt greedy about not wanting to lose any part of our relationship even though we could all tell by that point how you really saw me."

"They… they did that….?" Peridot didn't anticipate this; she regretted going off on Steven tangents in every video log she made, but now knowing everyone made sure Steven heard those bits on top of the entirety of her message to him specifically… the gem began to feel faint. "Everyone's fine with me feeling about you the way I do…?"

Steven nuzzled his forehead against hers, minding the gemstone in the middle. "Yeah. Everyone's cool with us. Connie even said she should be surrendering to you, because after hearing about how much I define your life and your identity, Connie said she couldn't hurt you… that whatever she felt for me, it could never compare to how much I meant to you. She wanted to tone things down anyway, after the drama that came up not long before Lapis ditched you, so… Peri, believe me when I say Connie's not only accepting us, but she's fully behind you. And like you, she wants to get to know you better, too. Dad said your message to him came off more like you were asking for permission to marry me, a-and I can see why he got that impression…."

Peridot squinted as she felt herself unable to hold down her blushing. "A-as if it wasn't hard enough exposing my feelings like that to your maternal unit; now you're telling me this! St-Steven, I must have made you so uncomfortable… I had no idea the others would use my messages like that!"

"I'm sorry… but Peridot, I mean it when I tell you they _needed_ to do that." Steven felt terrible for putting Peridot through so much embarrassment; he didn't hear all of Pink and Chartreuse's conversation… but he heard enough. "I don't think I would've had it in me to watch your message if they didn't give me proof of how much I meant to you. And the first time after I got through the message you made me, I literally ran to the ship without telling anyone and tried to take off for Homeworld. I couldn't think straight; all I could see in my head was how much you were already suffering because of White Diamond. I didn't think about planning or how stupid it was to go off by myself even though I had no idea how to drive a spaceship; Lapis, Dad, and Garnet stopped me before I could actually do it." Steven gave Peridot a brief but heartfelt kiss. "And later I started having dreams l like yours. When you first told me about _that_ dream you had, the one that freaked you out? I dreamed my own version of it. It wasn't exactly the same, but…." Steven kissed Peridot again. "Dad was right; you'd be a _fantastic_ mom, Peridot. I've never seen you happier than how you were in both our dreams where we became parents. I know we're way too young to think about stuff like that, but I already know nothing's gonna change how you feel about me. No longer how long you have to wait…"

This time, Peridot initiated the kiss. "Mmh… Steven, I-I don't know how to respond to all this… but you're right; I'll wait however long I must so long as I _can_ be with you eventually."

"And I'm sick of waiting," Steven grumbled. "Dot, do you know what it was like for me to read your feelings right before White cut your neck, just because the sight of me distracted you for a second?! I felt it right along with you every time it looped. I-I couldn't take it! I still can't take it now! I have you right here and your neck is fine… and you're 100% yourself now; nothing's sealed away. You're my real angry little slice of pie again. I-I know this is a super bad time, but I can't take it anymore!"

Peridot briefly thought to ask Steven which side of his morality he settled on when it came to the White Diamond deal, but… they would have plenty of time to talk about their mission and their destinies. After this current moment, Peridot knew she and Steven may never have another chance to fully express how they felt to each other. To be able to have more than just a couple of minutes at best to let their instincts take control, so there would no longer be any confusion or doubt of how much Peridot and Steven loved each other. So if they didn't survive past this mission, the pair would shatter knowing they made the most of every moment they had together.

Steven really was as much Peridot's weakness as he was her source of strength.

"Y-you understand that, right? Peridot…?"

Peridot smiled at the hybrid, acknowledging his sentiments. "Sorry, I… I know the quality of my responses have been subpar. It's just that… when you love someone, it feels like one word can set the record straight just as easily as it can botch your entire relationship. I'm not proficient enough with human affection yet to know what the right thing to say is."

Steven offered Peridot a knowing smile in return. "First of all, you're the most affectionate gem I've ever met," he told her while he drew the very flattered gem right to him; now they were practically attached to each other. "Secondly… maybe it's time we just stop talking."

Before Peridot could question such a notion, she found herself locking lips with Steven with such fervor, she quickly agreed words were unnecessary for what they both needed right now.

* * *

"Rrrgh! Okay, g-give me _one_ good reason why I should believe you're th-the Peridot we're looking for!"

Ruby, still damaged from Chartreuse Diamond's destabilizing swipe, woke up and found herself alone in a blank room filled to the brim with Era 2 Peridots that all claimed they were Cut-5XG. At the very least there was no danger of sustaining any more damage or a possible shattering since all Peridots were completely unarmed to make them nigh on indistinguishable from the Peridot Ruby knew. Honestly, she would have preferred a fight; mind games were more up Sapphire's alley. This entire premise gave Ruby a headache.

"A fair inquiry," the Peridot agreed. "Very well; I am _obviously_ 5XG. I am so certain of my distinction, I will invite you to ask any question of me that only 5XG would know, and I will give you the appropriate response."

"Oh yeah?" Ruby was visibly annoyed by this gem's unwarranted overconfidence. When she took a moment to think of a good question, she smirked. It was harder than usual for her to concentrate due to her damaged state, but even this wasn't too strenuous for Ruby to power through. If this Peridot was inviting a quiz challenge, she and her fellow kin must have studied for something like this. They all likely had cheat sheets stored somewhere. But quizzing wasn't Ruby's style.

Upon closer inspection, it became obvious to Ruby this wasn't the right Peridot, anyway. "Don't bother. You've already failed!"

Before the Peridot could react, Ruby repeatedly beat into her until she poofed. The others looked horrified, but instead of seeing one of their own get shattered as they suspected their fate would be if they couldn't fool the enemy, they were confused upon seeing Ruby keep the peridot gemstone safe inside a red bubble before she tapped the top and sent it off to – as far as they knew – parts unknown.

Ruby scoffed at this lot of gems; she had a feeling none of them were the Peridot she wanted. None of these Peridots even looked angry about this like Ruby expected the real deal to be. "Aw, you're all pathetic! I just did that Peridot the biggest favor ever; unlike you idiots, she'll have some kinda _future_ on Earth while the rest of you waste away here on your dying Homeworld!"

"H-how did you know that Peridot was lying?!" Another one dared to ask, "N-not that I care, because she _was_ lying and _I'm_ 5XG, but you didn't even ask her a question. I want no part of your violent interrogation tactics, you brutish Ruby!"

"Her visor wasn't the right shape," Ruby answered smugly. "And my Peri broke hers last time I saw her, anyway. Don't think details like that are gonna get past me! I can already tell right away a good chunk of you losers are filthy little liars for White Diamond!"

The Peridot that questioned Ruby looked self-conscious all of a sudden. "S-so you're going to incarcerate every Peridot who bears no exact resemblance to the one you seek?"

" _Gah!_ Stop your whining!" Ruby grunted; she was short-tempered enough in her own right, but it was even harder to tolerate annoyances in her damaged state. "You know, you stupid techies could just save me the trouble and _let_ me bubble you! I totally meant it when I said I did your buddy a favor! Y-you geeks still think White Diamond's all that, don't you?! Did you even bother asking what happened to Yellow, your _actual_ Diamond?!"

There a few beats of uncomfortable silence as the Peridot group all exchanged glances before one who looked much like 5XG but bore a notably greener tint to her hair decided to speak up. Ruby noted to herself to designate this one as "Unripe".

"White Diamond preemptively answered for us that the whereabouts of Yellow Diamond was not our concern and more importantly, not an inquiry the likes of us were qualified to ask of her," Unripe explained. "She made it very clear we would end up colorless like most of the other gems if we dare to bring the matter up."

That made sense to Ruby, at least. "Have any of you seen any other gems who still have their color like you?" she asked.

Again, the other Peridots looked to each other to see if anyone had such a thing to report, but when it was clear that was not the case, Unripe shook her head. "Only other Peridots. White Diamond has demoted most of us to the point where we don't have proper clearance to go anywhere beyond our assigned sector of our respective facets."

"You didn't bother asking why White got rid of your limb enhancers, either?" Ruby could recall from her memories as Garnet how hard her Peridot took it when she suddenly had to go without hers. Unsurprisingly, nearly all of the Peridots she faced were roughly her height much like 5XG.

"The consequence for questioning that action was the same as asking about Yellow Diamond," Unripe nervously explained. "I've never met 5XG, but I can't avoid having a negative first impression of her if White Diamond was willing to do this because of her."

Ruby smirked; she couldn't exactly blame these poor gems who were locked entirely out of the loop. "How many of you _know_ 5XG or heard of her? I bet you know where she really is!"

She was disappointed when nearly all of them legitimately looked clueless and shrugged at the sole different-typed gem in the vicinity. This wasn't that surprising, given the sheer number of Peridots in existence. It was highly unlikely 5XG met any outside of whom she directly worked with. However, one broke out from the crowd and approached Ruby directly. She, alarmingly, looked nearly identical to 5XG.

"Since it's apparent that holding out information puts both sides in a pointless stalemate, I suppose I'll have to step up," the Peridot said. "I am designated Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XF; 5XG emerged from her hole under mine approximately 6 seconds after me, and we were seated next to each other on the assembly line when we received our limb enhancers. She was worth retaining a memory for in that she was the only 5X series Peridot to have a painless experience with the limb enhancers and didn't show a single hint of discomfort. Additionally, she had no reaction when 5XH, who sat by her other side, was shattered for being too frail to handle the limb enhancers; a stark contrast to how 5XD's shattering greatly startled 5XC, 5XE, and myself."

"So, she got a reputation for being tough right away," Ruby understood. "That's so hardcore. Did you ever see her after that?"

5XF began to look cross with Ruby. "I made a point to never directly interact with 5XG if it could be avoided; the respect she earned for her fortitude was the foundation for the reputation she later gained as a diabolical, ruthless gem who would shatter her own kin just to get promoted. My designated workstation was in close proximity to hers, so I've overheard eyewitness testimonies of her many atrocities. I would rather hope she _isn't_ among us, and I do not comprehend why you would see any value in retrieving that psychotic defect."

"You'd see why if you went to Earth," Ruby said with confidence. "She's a completely different gem now; a better one. All of you can be better for it, too! You gotta admit that's better than staying on his planet when it's gonna crumble any day now! Let me send you to Earth and you won't have to worry about White Diamond ever again!"

"Do you really believe we're that gullible?" 5XF asked icily. "Why should we believe this "Earth" is any better than the home we know? How can you be sure we would be completely outside of White Diamond's radius of influence? Why should we take anything a _Ruby_ says seriously?"

Ruby was easily baited with the insult. "L-look, you're going to Earth whether you like it or not! I'm just tryin' to offer you an easy way out so I don't have to pulverize _all_ of you."

"And what makes you think you can do that by yourself?" 5XF challenged. "I'm fully aware Peridots are not meant for combat, especially without our limb enhancers, but the fact remains that we outnumber you vastly, and you can't poof us easily. A mere singular Ruby such as yourself would poof from exhaustion after taking out just a dozen of us."

Ruby growled; 5XF stepped back in preparation to defend herself, but the red gem did not attack just yet. In her current state, Ruby doubted she could even poof a dozen before she completely destabilized. If Sapphire were here, she could easily offer a solution to her numbers problem… but Ruby couldn't find her anywhere. She was distressed, but at the same time all the more driven to get these Peridots sent off so she could find her spouse.

In honor of Sapphire, Ruby decided to try a numbers game of her own.

"You know what, 5XF? I believed all gems are created equal, but if you saw me with my Sapphy, or saw how much your sister 5XG's grown since you last saw her, you'd see that belief JUST ISN'T TRUE!"

5XF had no idea what to make of these words. "I never believed such a ridiculous thing to begin with…"

" **SHUT UP!** I'm trying a thing!" Ruby squawked at the Peridot, effectively silencing her. "See, if you've got a 1-on-1 fight with a couple of gems like us, the odds are usually 50/50 for either to win. But I'm freakin' **Ruby** and you're a puny Peridot, so at best you'd only have a 25% chance against me! And if you added my Sapphire in this fight? Your chances of winning just went down _big time!_ See, in a 3-way fight you'd have a 33 1/3rd chance of winning, **but I…!** I actually got 66 and 2/3rds chance of winning, cuz Sapphire's not gonna try and beat me; we're gonna fuse into Garnet instead and paint the walls green with your sorry butt!"

5XF looked to her fellow Peridots, who were just as lost as she was in trying to decipher what the hell Ruby was saying. A good number of them were backing away in abject terror of this math Ruby was attempting.

"So, 5XF! You _look at me._ You take your 33 and 1/3rd chance, minus your 25% chance if we were goin' 1-on-1, and now you're down to an 8 and 1/3rd chance of beating me! _But then_ , you take my 75% chance of winnin' if we're goin' 1-on-1 and add that 66 and 2/3rds… th-then I got like, a 141 and 2/3rds chance of beating you! The numbers don't lie, 5XF! And they're spellin' a big stinkin' loss that'll make you the laughing stock of all Peridot-kind!"

5XF was beyond speechless, as were the rest of her kin. Many jaws were dropped, as the majority of the Peridots actually tried to work that math out in their heads. Similar to how 5XG effectively broke an entire work station by fooling her colleagues into having their consoles divide by zero, several Peridots were falling to their knees; their bodies destabilizing after their minds were twisted and tortured with those numbers. Some started to whine and writhe in agony; 5XF also staggered as she struggled to hold herself together.

"Wha… what even _was_ that?!" she demanded to know. "I don't even – how do you – your _logic_ –"

"From now on, you're all gonna call it **Ruby Math!** _Learn it!_ " Ruby raced into the massive group of weakened and confused Peridots; a blazing trail of fire was left in her wake as she very easily poofed a large mass of Peridots in a short amount of time with minimal effort. Despite the vast number Ruby was tasked to clear out, she managed to get nearly all of them within a minute; the room soon full of red bubbles with the Peridots' gemstones securely inside.

5XF was the last gem standing after that madness. She knew she couldn't stand a chance, but she was still mentally hung up on the madness Ruby spoke. "Wh-why?! Why are you doing this?!"

"Trust me; you'll thank me later!" Ruby assured after she stopped to briefly rest. Various trails of fire continued to burn behind her. "Now, are you gonna stop your fussin', or am I gonna have to explain in Ruby Math your chances of surviving on Homeworld if you're that sure you don't wanna go to Earth!"

" _For the love of stars,_ _ **don't!**_ "5XF was at her wits end. "I swear I'll make you pay for this if you're making this up, but that can wait for later." She closed her eyes in resignation with great reluctance. "Now go ahead and get this over with. I'd be shattered here anyway for letting our production rate plummet like this."

Ruby grinned like mad. "No worries; I'll make sure your sister gives you a _warm welcome_."

Seconds later, 5XF's gemstone was secured in a bubble among the hundreds of others.

"Now I just gotta start sendin' 'em off," Ruby grumbled. "This is _so stupid!_ Where's my Sapphy?! Where's everybody else?!"

Ruby soon got her answer as a hole opened up right beneath her similar to how she ended up falling into this pocket dimension in the first place.

"Oh, for cryin' out **LOOOOOOOUUUUUUD!** "

* * *

Everyone was in for quite a shock as Ruby fell from out of nowhere almost on top of their heads. Following her were hundreds of red bubbles.

"Ah, finally!" Pearl was delighted to see this. "Bismuth, will you please bring Sapphire over? I think these two are long overdue for a reunion."

"No need to ask me twice!" Bismuth assured and soon came over with a very weakened Sapphire in her arms. "These two need each other in a time like this… and having Garnet back would be a big help, too."

"H-huh…?" Ruby rose to her knees, beyond exhausted from her work and her injury and then realized she was no longer alone. "Y-you're all back! And…" Tears flooded from her eyes. " _SAPPHIRE!_ "

She somehow found the strength to leap up off the floor straight to Bismuth, who had already lowered Sapphire to Ruby's level in her arms.

"Be gentle, now," Bismuth advised her. "Sapphire's hardly been able do much of anything since we found her. Whatever Chartreuse Diamond did to you two, it was _bad_ …"

"Chartreuse…" Ruby growled as she tried not to explode into flames immediately. She instead took Sapphire into her arms and kneeled to cradle her head. "Don't worry, Sapphy. We're gonna make sure she pays for that. Let's go find her right now, okay?! Together!"

She grabbed Sapphire's hand and bent down to kiss her with the intent of reforming Garnet, but a strong electrical shock repelled the two away from each other just as fusion was attempted. "Wha– **WHAT?!** Why…?!"

Pearl sighed and shook her head. "If I had to guess, Chartreuse used her willpower to make it impossible for the two of you to fuse. You may not be able to reform into Garnet until we find a way to get past that block, or Chartreuse wills away the ban."

"You know, I remember Garnet was talking like she figured out something _big_ about Chartreuse Diamond," Connie recalled. "And Chartreuse really panicked; like she struck Garnet out of desperation instead of a premeditated attack. She wanted to shut Garnet up."

"Mm… I believe Connie is right," Sapphire quietly added, which got everyone's attention. "Spare your excitement, everyone… Chartreuse targeted my head when she separated us. She probably worried that I would retain whatever Garnet figured out."

Ruby quickly returned to Sapphire, comforting her love and trying her best to ease the pain. At least Chartreuse's power didn't forbid them from simply being together. "I'm so sorry, Sapphire! She wanted to take you out more than me… I would've gladly taken all of that hit for you…"

Sapphire smiled, though she was still too weak to even move. "Of course; I know that. Ruby, did you really bubble all of those Peridots by yourself?"

Everyone else looked past the pair and noticed a giant mass of red bubbles not far away.

"Mama-mia, Ruby!" Amethyst looked down to her in shock. "You seriously took out all those Peris?!"

Ruby smirked briefly to Amethyst before returning her attention to Sapphire. "All it took was a little Ruby Math to soften their heads. They're not nearly as tough as they think they are when you start usin' special math stuff to make 'em go crazy."

"That's one less Dot swarm to deal with," Lapis said with a sigh of relief. "But we're still overrun with all of the ones that were stuck with us while we were alone. Now that we're all together… I don't even know where to begin. We're surrounded by a sea of Peridots. I'd need an ocean just to clean them out in a few hours. This could take _days_ …"

"We're a Ste-man short of a full reunion," Amethyst reminded her. "Since he's the one White Diamond wants, I doubt he even got thrown down here. Trucy probably threw us all in these dimensional trash cans just so she could deliver Steven to White-Di in person."

Pearl nodded. "I'm thinking the same thing; all the more reason for us to get out of here. But we agreed to save as many Homeworld gems as we could, and these are the first non-pallids we've seen since we landed."

"I think if Steven was here with us right now, he wouldn't move a muscle to get outta here until we saved all these little Peris," Bismuth said, looking very resolute. "Our Peri is the way she is today because Steven gave her a second chance on Earth; I think her kin at least deserve that much, especially since their alternative is to fall with this planet. I can tell it's runnin' on fumes at this point."

"Bismuth is right," Sapphire conceded. "I don't need my powers to know how Steven would respond to this. I wish I could be of more use, everyone, but Chartreuse Diamond somehow blocked my future vision." She shuddered a bit in Ruby's grasp; the latter held Sapphire close to her and squeezed her soulmate to comfort her. "It's repelling me the same way Ruby and I were just repelled from fusing… I can barely even think without feeling this kind of pain."

Connie looked down at the pair. "Do you think it's a coincidence that Chartreuse did way more damage to you than she did to Ruby? I would've thought you two would have suffered equal amounts of damage since you were hit as a fusion…"

"I do find it suspicious that Chartreuse would prioritize incapacitating me, yes," Sapphire agreed. "White Diamond doesn't care for any of us besides Steven, so I can't imagine she had much to tell Chartreuse other than that we're her enemy. She somehow knew I was the part of the fusion that posed the bigger threat to revealing whatever secret she was hiding."

"She's kinda weird for a Diamond, don't ya think?" Amethyst mused. "It took her forever to directly attack any of us, and when she finally did it, she looked like she was about to break down. I wonder if she even would've attacked Garnet if she wasn't gonna spill a secret…"

"Hmm… she did seem rather torn on how to regard us," Pearl noted. "Like she couldn't decide for herself whether to fight us or help out. She certainly lacks the majesty of a true Diamond as well; she comes off more like a child playing pretend."

Lapis frowned and folded her arms. "Even if she is, she's still incredibly dangerous and untrustworthy. We should have known better to even think about trusting her… we should've put our foot down with Steven; he was the one who pushed us to give her a chance."

"W-we'll worry about those stupid Diamonds later!" Ruby blurted out. "We already know what we gotta do first; we need a way to poof all these Peri-wannabes and send 'em off! Can anyone do that to a bunch at once?! I don't think Ruby Math is gonna clear out all of those…" The crowd of Peridots was at least ten times the size of the group Ruby dealt with alone.

"Does anyone believe that _any_ of these Peridots could be ours?" Connie asked for clarification. "They're surrounding all sides of us, so they can clearly see and hear us… ours would've come running to us right away."

There was a unanimous head-shaking among the team to answer Connie's question.

"Chartreuse just lied so we'd waste our time like this," Lapis concluded. "White has our Peridot, and she's probably using her to convince Steven to surrender right now. Like I said, even if I had more water to work with, it would still take a while to get everyone bubbled. And… I don't have nearly enough to wipe out entire groups all at once."

"I've got no doubt any of us can take these Peris out," Bismuth said confidently. "Problem is, I've been more about the one-on-one kind of fighting. It'll take any one of us forever to clear out this herd that way, even if we all did it together."

Pearl frowned as she looked at the sea of green and yellow ahead of her. "On top of that, Peridots are notorious for being resilient to damage; it's extremely difficult to take them out in a single hit. If we target their gemstone, it would be quicker, but we run the risk of cracking or even shattering them."

"Would a fusion make a difference?" Connie asked. "Although we're kind of limited in what fusions are available to use now."

"It's pretty much down to Opal," Amethyst muttered. "No Steven means no Stevonnie or Smoky Quartz. And with Garnet out, no Sunstone either. Not to mention no Sugilite, Sardonyx, or Alexandrite. So… yeah." She eyed Lapis. "Laps, unless you and Bismuth are ready with that fusion you've been working on, everything's riding on Opal. And, I mean… like, Opal would help a _lot_ , but it'll still take forever and a day to get all the Peris bubbled."

Lapis gulped. She was _extremely_ hesitant to even think about ever engaging in fusion again; Malachite was an experience that would forever scar her. But in the interest of saving Peridot who worked so hard to save everyone; knowing full well Peridot would volunteer for fusion if she could actually do it, Lapis finally relented and chose Bismuth as her partner. She was only willing enough to try out one fusion for now, because even that much still rattled her nerves. But it was easy to keep in mind that Bismuth was definitely not Jasper, at least. She and Bismuth spent almost all of their downtime together during the past week, attempting to ease each other into a functioning fusion; Bismuth wasn't exactly hung up on it like Lapis was, but she had never fused before, so she had a bit of trouble figuring out how to approach the subject.

It was just a couple of days ago that Lapis and Bismuth succeeded in fusing, but conflicting schedules made it nearly impossible for the fusion to get much time to figure out who she was and what she could do; it was much like how Lapis barely had any time to adjust to fighting with limited amounts of water before the mission prior to this one. So, their fusion was currently a bit of a wildcard.

"Lapis, if you ain't ready, then you ain't ready," Bismuth assured her. "I don't want you forcin' yourself. We're in a bad spot right now, but it's nothin' threatening our lives. We can always work on findin' another way out."

"I feel like I'm holding everyone back if I don't do this, though," Lapis confessed. "It's been months since Malachite… I've had time to heal. It'll never fully heal, but I don't know why this still freaks me out." She winced. "Peridot would be telling me to just suck it up and do it already…"

Bismuth shook her head. "Lapis, I doubt that. Peri hardly understands fusion and can't even do it; she knows about Malachite, too. I don't think even she would push you. And you've not held us back even once, girl! What are you even talkin' about?"

"I was the only one who got poofed in the last mission," Lapis confessed, clearly not happy to bring that detail up to everyone. "All because I was stupidly fixated on some kind of justice for Blue Diamond! I just completely forgot you all existed in that last battle, you know? Maybe if I had some common sense, we all would have made it out and we wouldn't even be here having this conversation!"

Everyone grew quiet as Lapis struggled to keep herself from crying.

"Lapis… I don't know what my opinion is worth to you," Connie spoke up. "But I don't think anything would have changed if you didn't get poofed; really, I think it made it easier for the rest of us to escape. It was easy carrying you to the finish line, you know?"

Lapis managed to smile as Connie gave her a hug, which she returned. "I'm really glad you took good care of me back then, Connie… thank you."

"Peridot was shown the vision of the future well before you were taken out," Sapphire added. "And it came to me a while before that. Your condition had no role in how the future was to play out, Lapis. Whether you were consciously with us or not as we escaped, Peridot would still have failed to escape with us."

Lapis took that in and slowly nodded. "I see. Thank you for letting me know…" She sighed. "I, I just need a little time, okay? If our fusion proves to be worthless in helping out at all, I'll never want to try it again…"

Bismuth rested a hand over Lapis' shoulder. "You need to stop letting failure get to you like that," she gently urged. "Maybe it'll be a game-changer in here; maybe it won't. That doesn't mean it won't make a difference in another situation. Think of it like your water power; it ain't of much use in a place that doesn't have any, but if we're near an ocean, you're practically unstoppable!"

"That… that makes sense," Lapis agreed. "We're going to need to decide on how we're going to do this, then. You know… how to start, and all."

" _Grah!_ You're overthinking it!" Ruby shouted at Lapis. "Stop being such a sissy and just do it already!"

" _Ruby_ ," Sapphire said calmly, but clearly out of contempt. "Negative reinforcement does not work on everyone. The last thing you should do is needlessly pressure someone into fusing when they're uncertain of it." She addressed Lapis now. "Please disregard what my Sweetums said, Lapis. That was a very childish and inappropriate way for her to give advice, but she does mean to help you."

Lapis couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I understand; I lived in a barn for a few months with an angry little gem who talks _a lot_ like her."

That elicited a laugh out of everyone except Ruby, who just fumed. It was true, though; even Ruby was aware of how strikingly similar her temper tantrums were to Peridot's.

"I think I'm ready to give it a shot," Lapis told Bismuth. She looked much calmer and more assured of herself, so Bismuth could tell her sentiment was genuine.

"Alrighty, then!" Bismuth held up an arm. "Gimme a lift and we'll get this started!"

Lapis complied, keeping a firm grasp on Bismuth's hand as she used her wings to ascend. However, before they could get started, Lapis spotted a red dot out in the vast distance of white nothingness. "B-Bismuth! Do you see that…?"

Bismuth squinted as she followed Lapis' gaze. Whatever it was, it was walking their way. "That's definitely no Peridot," she agreed. The pair watched the red dot enter the massive green sea of Peridots, only to flicker out of sight and then reappear on the other end of the Peridot crowd. "Holy smokes, it can teleport!"

The red dot became much easier to distinguish coming out from the other side of the Peri-wall.

"Is that… Steven?!" Lapis was stunned with disbelief, but once she made out the curly brown hair and the yellow star on the red shirt, she couldn't imagine who else it could be.

Bismuth studied the figure down below closer and nodded to Lapis. "Let's put the fusion on hold; this feels a little too convenient to be true!"

Lapis nodded. "Right; this could just as easily be another trick from that little Diamond brat."

* * *

Steven was surprised to see the Crystal Gems fully expecting him when he came into view. "I guess Lapis must've caught sight of me in the air or something," he figured before speeding up to dash to his friends and family. "GUYS! I'm so happy to see you agai–"

All of the Crystal Gems brandished their weapons and glared at Steven, making him screech to a halt. "K-kind of a hostile way to say hello, don't you think…?"

"Chartreuse must think we're total idiots; you're not even that good of a Steven imitation," Lapis coldly shot back. "She couldn't even be bothered to get your voice right."

Steven gulped and just remembered the inadvertent crisis with seeing a certain Peridot memory that induced a growth spurt as well as his mother's powers attempting a hostile takeover of his body. He was able to rid himself of the accents that marked Pink's influence over him, but as Pink herself stated to Chartreuse, the growth spurt was a product of his humanity enhanced with the Diamond powers. Consequently, with an actual 14 year-old's body came a voice befitting of the age – trapped in purgatory between childhood and adulthood - resulting in some cracks and abrupt shifts in his pitch.

"Oh, geez… c-come on, at least ask questions before you shoot," he pleaded, not intent on taking a step closer to them until they lowered their arms.

"He's way taller than he should be," Connie noted. "I know Chartreuse Diamond is a newbie, that's a detail not even a newbie would get wrong." She looked to Pearl. "Is there a quick way we can know for sure whether or not that's really Steven?"

Pearl hesitantly lowered her spear. "I'll examine the gemstone; no one knows the look and feel of Rose's energy quite like I do." She looked to her teammates. "Stay on your guard; you'll know soon enough whether or not to go on the attack."

Steven didn't move an inch and was perfectly compliant with Pearl examining his gemstone; he had nothing to hide. Pearl was at a loss for words when she felt that unmistakable aura upon touching the top of the hidden diamond.

"Y… you can't fake energy like this," Pearl acknowledged before looking up to the young man. "Steven… how…?"

"Kind of a long story," Steven admitted. "Like, a wait-till-we-get-back-to-Earth kinda long story…"

The other Crystal Gems lowered or dispelled their weapons once they read Pearl's reaction.

"Steven, how in the world did you escape from Chartreuse Diamond?" Connie asked. "I thought she would've taken you straight to White Diamond since she had us all trapped in here. No one else could've stopped her!"

"Well…" Steven already felt awkward about this. "There is a someone who could have done it… probably not who you're gonna expect. But listen, everyone: we're not leaving this dimension until all these other Peris get sent to Earth. I wanna make that clear to everyone."

Bismuth smirked. "What'd I tell y'all? Called it."

"Steven, none of us want to dispute that," Pearl assured him. "But do you realize how long this is going to take, even with all of our combined efforts? We could be in here for ages; Homeworld might fall apart before we can save them all."

Steven shook his head and smirked while looking up at… nothing, seemingly. "Pearl, it's not gonna take long at all. I know exactly how we're gonna get them all home in less than a minute. But in exchange, I'm asking you and the others to trust me on this. Most of you aren't gonna like my idea at first, but I promise you, I know what I'm doing."

"It wouldn't be the first time you had a controversial esoteric solution," Sapphire noted. "Go ahead, Steven."

"Right." Steven's focus never shifted from the nothingness. He held out a hand and rested it in midair, which just looked bizarre to everyone else. "You can come out now; it's safe."

The smiles on the faces of Steven' friends quickly disappeared when they found Chartreuse Diamond appear next to Steven, who was holding her hand. Instinctively, the young Diamond reared back when she was met with several faces glaring at her with unbridled hatred.

Steven was quick to summon his shield and hold it in front of Chartreuse before reflecting that hateful look back to his companions. "I said you weren't gonna like this idea, but you promised you'd give me a chance to prove I'm not crazy," he reminded them. "At least try not to fight me on this, okay? Chartreuse Diamond is gonna make things right to show she's sorry for what she put us through. Then she's gonna explain herself… and you're all gonna _listen._ "

Chartreuse looked to the Crystal Gems pleadingly. "For the record, I know I fully deserve your hatred," she said. "But Pearl's right; we don't have the time to waste sending all these gems to Earth one-by-one. You all need to save your strength for White Diamond, anyway. I'll take care of this."

No one was inclined to respond to her, but Chartreuse would gladly take that over the hateful slander she expected would be hurled at her.

She sighed and walked over to face the never-ending army of helpless Peridots; Steven followed close by her with his shield up at all times to protect her. It was a bit depressing that there was so much animosity aimed directly at her that _Steven_ of all people didn't trust them to control themselves to resist striking her from behind… at the same time, it warmed her heart seeing Steven so dedicated to being her protector.

Chartreuse took a deep breath and concentrated, to get a feel for how many gems were in this dimension outside of her group. She wasn't surprised, but a bit overwhelmed to find out it was, at a minimum, several hundreds. The Diamond wondered briefly if Earth could handle a large influx of gems like that all at once but decided that was a question better left to be asked at another time. With two quick successive claps of her hand, every single Peridot in sight poofed, leaving only their gemstones behind.

Everyone gawked at the sight. It should have stood to reason that a Diamond could do something like this, but it was still baffling to witness. They continued to gape as Chartreuse rose her hand high into the air, and simultaneously raised every gemstone to be encased into a lime green bubble.

All that remained was to send them off. Chartreuse Diamond curled in her fingers, only leaving her index and middle finger extended on each hand. She held both sets of fingers to each side of her head, closed her eyes, and concentrated as she calmly spoke her command.

"Preparing interplanetary relocation of all bubbled peridot gemstones," she said almost mechanically. "Setting destination: Galaxy, Milky Way. Belt, Gould. Spiral arm, Orion-Cygnus. Interstellar medium, Local Bubble. Interstellar cloud, Local Fluff. Planetary system, Solar. Planet, Earth. Hemisphere, northern. Continental landmass, North America. Country, the United States of America. State, Delmarva. Settlement, Beach City. Residence, the Crystal Temple. Unit, the Burning Room. Commencing transfer."

All of the lime green bubbles, as well as the mass of red counterparts courtesy of Ruby, were sent off all at once, presumably to the specified location. Steven smiled and applauded the Diamond for the successful delivery, consequently saving countless lives in that one action. After a few moments, Connie joined Steven in applauding. Amethyst followed along soon after, and eventually Bismuth did so as well, though with some slight hesitance as she noticed her would-be fusion partner glaring at her. Similarly, Pearl, Ruby, and Sapphire were not so easily swayed, but had no scathing words for Chartreuse when she finally turned around to face the others, looking relieved.

"Hopefully I was specific enough and none of those bubbles got lost," she said with a slight chuckle before she quickly contained it. "A-anyway, that's not all I wanted to do to make amends…"

Amethyst just shook her head. "Guys, we're totally gonna need a bigger room… we're gonna come home to a house flooded with gem bubbles by the time we get everybody saved."

Some of the Crystal Gems murmured in agreement while Chartreuse made her way over to Ruby and Sapphire. The second Ruby tensed up, Steven was quick to glare at the gem and remind her the Diamond was still under his protection.

"Ruby, Sapphire… I panicked and did way more damage to you than I intended," Chartreuse solemnly told them. "It's still no excuse for my actions and I do not expect your forgiveness. Just allow me to undo as much of the damage I can; Steven agreed to make up for the difference." She looked to Ruby and smiled. "So, would I be right to presume those red bubbles were made by you?"

Ruby scoffed and grumbled at the attention the Diamond gave her. "So what if they were?! Why're you singling me out?!"

"Because it's obvious no one else cleared out that many on their own," Chartreuse pointed out. "I'll admit I'm surprised you managed to pull that off, especially without being fused with Sapphire. You're a lot tougher than I gave you credit for."

" _Tch_ , whatever! Those Peridots were _easy_ once I applied a little Ruby Math on 'em!" Ruby was proud of her bizarre accomplishment, and Chartreuse looked genuinely freaked out by the concept alone.

"I will take your word for it and leave it at that," she cheerfully agreed. Her inner Peridot did _not_ want to know what kind of effect this "Ruby Math" would have on her. She got to business, resting a hand on Sapphire's head and the other gently over Ruby's. "As Garnet, you both figured out something I didn't want anyone else to know at the time, so… I imagine you'll relearn that once I fix you two up. But don't blurt it out or anything; I should be the one to fess up, and that's exactly what I intend to do immediately after this. You both should be able to fuse again, as well."

That was incentive for the two married gems to look forward to this and not give Chartreuse any more grief. They were compliant as Chartreuse willed away as much internal damage as she could. The memory block and the lock against fusion were removed. There was still some residual physical damage from the gemstones as a result of the attack, which Steven quickly attended to with his saliva while an extremely nervous Diamond faced the rest of her audience, still sat on the floor.

"Right… stars, I've been dreading this for hours…" Chartreuse willed away her oncoming tears of anxiety as best she could before she addressed her peers. "Garnet figured out who I really was; that's why I attacked her the way I did. I was a complete mess emotionally and mentally at the time… I was idiotic enough to actually have some degree of trust in White Diamond as well. Once it became obvious that White Diamond treated me the exact same way other Diamonds had in the past prior to my ascension, I knew I really screwed up. Steven helped put me back together, and… I'm ready to join you all. But I need to come clean about this first…" Chartreuse's form lit up, eventually becoming engulfed into the bright light. "I'm hoping you don't hate me too much, but… I can't blame you if you do. I would, too."

Just like that, Chartreuse Diamond's identity was no longer a secret.

* * *

" _Call me Chartreuse Diamond… my_ _ **equal**_ _."_

" _Your…_ _ **equal**_ _….? Did you just declare yourself equal to me?"_

" _I am a Diamond just as you are; there is no level beyond this for gemkind. Regardless of how I achieved this state of being, I have objectively become your equal, White Diamond."_

" _Less than a minute into your newfound existence, and you presume yourself to be on my level… Chartreuse, you are clearly delusional and have no understanding of your place here!"_

" _You never once insinuated that you we would be anything other than equals; you outright admitted that you need Pink Diamond and myself to reestablish the Diamond Authority that_ _ **you**_ _destroyed. White Diamond, you've given me no reason to believe I should be your subordinate."_

" _Then allow me to give you a reason right now!"_

The Crystal Gems winced as they watched White Diamond brutally blast Chartreuse into a wall with enough force to make a crater in it. Peridot retained her ability to project clear, picture-perfect memories through her gemstone and made use of this to quickly get her teammates caught up on everything that happened to her since she last saw them as she awaited her doom in the tunnel. Peridot also made sure to keep Steven close to her at all times. When the infamous scene of her neck being sliced open started up shortly before this, Peridot pulled Steven's head into her chest to both shield his eyes and distract him with something significant enough that would take his mind off that traumatic event (even if for just a little while) and made small soundproofed barriers around his ears so he wouldn't have to relive the audible trauma as well.

It wasn't obvious yet since Peridot had been sitting down the entire time, but her body did grow and mature similarly to Steven's. Hers wasn't nearly as drastic, but she at least managed to barely surpass Amethyst in height – meanwhile she had much more pronounced hips, thighs, and calves while the curves above her waist accentuated her blossoming bosom. These traits were far more exaggerated in her Chartreuse Diamond form, and while Peridot finally had the ability to simply shapeshift into her pre-ascended self, it would be a chore to constantly maintain it… but really, Peridot just enjoyed finally being able to look more mature like the rest of her peers. She always hated feeling like the odd gem out for looking like a child just as much as she acted like one; now she could finally – hopefully – be regarded with a bit more dignity. It helped her, as far as she knew, maintain the illusion that she wasn't just a gem even younger than Steven trying to mesh with gems thousands of years her senior. As a bonus, unlike Steven, Peridot wasn't cursed with a voice caught in the hellish limbo known as puberty – her voice remained exactly the same.

" _I can give you_ _ **many**_ _more reasons to prove my superiority over you should you need them, Chartruese Diamond. Never forget you are still highly inexperienced with your powers; to have_ _ **any**_ _hope of reaching your true potential, you must rely on me to give you guidance into this new life of yours. You must_ _ **trust me**_ _wholeheartedly – you have conceded that this is your life from now own, for all time. Your time on Earth has come to an end and your so-called friends abandoned you just as you asked them to. If they were ever to return, it would only prove their lack of respect for you and lack of regard for your feelings. You cannot go back on this, Chartreuse. This is the point of no return; to remove or shatter that diamond on your forehead is just the same as taking away that repulsive peridot. This is who you are from now on, Chartreuse Diamond. This is who you were_ _ **destined**_ _to be since your emergence. Now, are you finally understanding your place in this world, or must I be forced to harm my little Twilight once more due to her egotistical ignorance?"_

"… _I-I apologize for forgetting myself, White Diamond. My foolish optimism got the best of me… and I'm the one who misinterpreted your words of wisdom. If you grant me forgiveness, I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you… m-my Diamond."_

" _Ah, much better… I believe you'll need to prove your unwavering loyalty to me if you wish to be pardoned for your transgressions. Make yourself useful and patrol the palace grounds; dealing with the rabble is beneath me, so the responsibility falls to you to ensure I am not disturbed for any reason. Twilight, you will not let your personal feelings dictate your decisions. If, hypothetically, the Crystal Gems were to return and storm my empire, tell me what you intend to do to put a stop to such a heinous crime."_

" _Hypothetical, of course… they would never really come back. A-as for the what-if, I would personally dispatch every rebel in the group and detain them in any manner you see fit. If Pink Diamond was among them, I would deliver her straight to you without hesitation."_

" _And you would readily do this to individuals you once called your friends and family because…?"_

" _B-because… now that I've ascended and become the very thing they hate above all else, they would never take me back. I've betrayed their trust in the past; agreeing to become a Diamond would be the ultimate betrayal in their eyes. They'll see me the same way they see you. And I refuse to be rejected by lesser beings."_

" _Very good answer, Twilight. How fortunate for you that you will not have to worry about harming your former friends, at least… now take your leave and go to your post. Just to know for certain you are being honest about your allegiance to me, I will keep a remote pallid surveillance unit in your area; you will be monitored at all times. The moment I see any hint of dissention from you will be your last – or alternatively, the last of those you once cared about. Are we understood, Chartreuse?"_

" _Completely, my Diamond. I will proudly represent you at my post."_

" _We'll see if your devotion to me is as genuine as you make it sound. That will be all."_

"… so, I waited at my post. And then you all found me. You know the rest…" Peridot concluded her full confession as the screen flickered off. She held Steven tighter against her body. "Even that can't justify my unforgivable behavior. Everyone, I'm so sorr–"

Peridot was cut off by a sudden hug from her left side by Lapis, with Bismuth joining in seconds later. Not far behind was Amethyst, who hugged her from the front while minding where Steven was positioned. Connie came to hug Peridot from behind on the right, Pearl followed suit directly behind Peridot in the center, and finally Ruby and Sapphire latched onto their young friend, being small enough to fit in the gaps left by the rest of her friends. And very soon, the two fused to complete the group hug with Garnet making her return as she embraced her long-lost friend.

"What matters above all else is that we are fully reunited," Garnet told the crowded gem in the center of the hug pile. "You did not ask for any of this, Peridot. It was thrust upon you in your most vulnerable moment and you had no one to turn to for help. You endured several days of endless pain without giving into White Diamond… never think we would overlook that."

"–Oh, that reminds me!" Pearl partially released her hold on Peridot to summon a syringe from her gemstone. "This might hurt a little bit," she gently warned. "But after all we went through to get you back, we are _not_ losing you to the pallid effect."

Peridot yelped as she felt a needle prick her arm, but it was brief. Since so many people were holding her down anyway, she was quite compliant. "I-I see you made a vaccine for that… very impressive, Pearl."

"Thank you," Pearl cheerfully replied after she finished up. "I just wish I could have found a cure for those already infected… it's looking more and more like White is the only one who can cure it, unfortunately."

"That won't stop you from trying, will it?" Peridot asked. "I might have some ideas on how to work around it… but that can wait until we get home."

"Speaking of getting home, why don't we just go now?" Lapis inquired before Pearl could respond. "If we just leave Homeworld as-is, White Diamond will ultimately go down with it. We shouldn't need to fight her at all."

Garnet shook her head. "I wouldn't be surprised if White Diamond could survive the destruction of her own planet. And none of us want to risk her eventually finding her way to Earth one day like the other Diamonds managed to."

"Something's telling me we _have_ to finish this here," Peridot confessed. "I don't know if it's cryptic crap that comes with being a Diamond, but… I-I feel obligated to put an end to her. If I'm stuck with these powers, this status, and _that form_ for the rest of my life, I may as well use it to do something meaningful… something that will ensure our safety."

"Then we'll have your back," Bismuth assured her. "Greg's gonna be thrilled when we tell him the Peri Patrol is finally all back together again."

"If you won't run away, then I won't, either." Everyone looked to Lapis. "I-I really mean it. I'm standing my ground this time… with all of you." She looked to Peridot and smiled warmly. "I can't call myself a Crystal Gem or a member of the Peri Patrol if I keep doing what you say I do best – right, Peridot?"

That made Peridot visibly flustered as that reminded her of something. "I should have _never_ made those stupid video logs… _gaawwh_ , I'm never gonna live that down!"

"Peridot, we probably wouldn't have made it this far without them," said Pearl. "You gave us very valuable, crucial information relevant to this mission without even knowing it. Who knows how long it would have taken Steven to get out of bed if we didn't have your messages to force him out?"

"I honestly didn't think he'd take it this hard," Peridot admitted while she looked down at Steven, whose face was still buried In her chest. The gem was about to bark at him, but she realized she never removed the soundproofing field from his ears. "O-oh. Oops… he still thinks we're watching _that_ part of the memory."

She quickly dispelled the soundproof effect and gently nudged Steven to wake him up. "Steven, you can get up now. The scary part's over." She frowned when he didn't move from his position; clearly he must have been enjoying himself too much. " _Hey_. Everyone's watching you, clod-for-brains!"

When he still didn't respond, Peridot resorted yanking his hair. **"STEVEN! WAKE UP!"**

To everyone's relief, Steven was finally stirred by that, though he looked incredibly drowsy. "Mmhuh…? Oh… mm… s-sorry…"

Pearl was quick to feel the young man's forehead. "For stars' sake, Steven! You're burning up!" There was a quick silent agreement between Peridot and Pearl for the former to hand Steven over and let him rest properly on the floor.

"Peridot, do you have any idea what really happened to him?" Connie asked the young gem worriedly. "He looked nothing like this when we last encountered you; however he ended up the way he is now, it had to have happened after we all got separated. I know he said this wasn't a story to tell while we're still here, but…"

Peridot looked to the other side of the floor, feeling slightly guilty over this. "When Steven was putting me back together, he needed to know exactly how White Diamond separated a key aspect of myself from my own body and still somehow lock it away within so he'd have an idea of how to make me whole again. So I showed him the, uh… the really bad part of the memory I just showed you all."

She didn't need to describe that part any further; _everyone_ was horrified by the neck-slicing scene… most of the Crystal Gems didn't handle it nearly as well as they claimed they could.

"That part specifically kept playing on loop in Steven's mind," Peridot continued. "And he lost control of himself; I had no idea he'd react like that. But I had to show him, you know? I did warn him how hard it'd be to watch. That's when his body started getting weird. His hair got even poofier like Pink Diamond's hair, a lot of pink started appearing in his hair and on his body – his eyes were pink and had the diamond pupils – and then he started growing. I did everything I could to calm him down, but he couldn't hear me. I finally found a way to calm him through his gemstone, though it took forever." Peridot _really_ didn't want to get into the part where she had to commune with Pink Diamond; she couldn't handle living through that endless train of embarrassment again – especially not right in front of Pearl, who would no doubt interrogate Peridot all day just knowing she held a conversation with her long-lost love. "There was a civil war going on in his head; the memory was still on loop in there, and… the problem was Steven's hold on his morality. Seeing White Diamond do something like that, even though she didn't really do it and I told him ahead of time that none of it was real, made him want to forsake his pacifism and destroy White Diamond by his own hand."

"Unreal…" Connie gasped out. "I mean… I think I understand why he'd feel that way, especially if he had to keep seeing that scene over and over again."

"It was even worse for him," Peridot confessed to her. "He told me you all know how his powers evolved to the point where he can read the true feelings of others, even through prerecorded footage. He was reading my feelings every time that moment played out, and he couldn't make it stop. There was still a part of him that didn't want to abandon his morals, hence the conflict. I had to do everything in my power to interrupt the fight in his head and force him to wake up. But he had to pick a side to recover… it was up to him in the end."

Lapis had no idea what to make of this, but she was curious. "So… which route did Steven settle for?"

"… I didn't ask." Peridot blushed; she knew she could have asked him. She even entertained the thought of doing just that, but during that particular moment… she just wanted to be as self-indulgent as Steven. "You know how he's usually an open book? As serious as this matter is, the fact that he didn't tell me what he decided on without being prompted told me he didn't want to talk about it. That wasn't going to help mend him, so I decided not to pry. I… I don't know if that's related to what's going on now. I made sure he didn't have to hear or see that moment again when the rest of you saw it, so…"

"He may have felt our own reactions to that scene through his aura," Garnet mused. "There wouldn't have been anything you could have done about that, but it's possible that's what happened…"

Peridot wasn't so sure. "He was really _livid_ last time, though! Like, he looked ready to blow a planet up; he was that full of rage! He's not showing any of that now; he's just… really worn out. I don't know how much stamina it takes out of Steven to use Pink's powers, but…" She worried that even if she was on the right track, it might not have _just_ been the overload of Steven's Diamond powers that caused this…

Pearl reluctantly nodded. "That sounds like a more probable cause. He may need some food. Connie…?"

"Right here," Connie rushed over and pulled out a granola bar and a can of juice. "He does look pretty over-exerted, now that I'm getting a better look at him." She snapped open the tab of the can and pulled out a straw to dip into the drink, meanwhile Pearl was handed the solid food. "Peridot, can you raise his head a bit?"

"Of course." Peridot smiled and shifted Steven's head into her lap, angling him up properly so that Connie could stick the straw in his mouth. "I keep forgetting how good it is to have multiple humans in this team," she laughed to herself. "It completely slipped my mind that organic beings have needs like this… it's a good thing you all came prepared."

"Think of it more like a trade-off," Connie said in jest. "I'm not nearly as well-versed with a gem's needs or what they can handle, which is why it's good there's so many of you on the team. Oh, Peridot! I had a cool idea for an alternative for the school thing since you were so interested."

Peridot looked up, for the first time in ages looking eager and ecstatic. "You did? Really?"

"That's right; the school year is nearly over for me," Connie informed her. "That means I won't have a use for any of my textbooks after that point; every time we move up a grade, we have to get a new set. So I'll let you have my books once the school year's over, okay? The math one might be boring for you, but I'm sure you'll enjoy going through my English, social studies, and science books. And after summer break, when I get my new books, you can see how I do my homework and you can try it for yourself if you want."

" _That sounds like the best thing ever…"_ Peridot was starry-eyed and nearly in tears before she reached over to hug Connie. Connie was happy to reciprocate while making sure Steven was receiving his sustenance. They both giggled before being interrupted with a loud clearing of the throat from Garnet.

"Oh, come on," Peridot grumbled. "I'm obviously the _goal_ of this particular mission; not the leader. Let me goof off at least a little bit, won't you?"

Garnet remained stoic. "But we have achieved that goal, so now plans have changed. Peridot, we will need your guidance to make it off this planet alive. That much is unavoidable. Are you certain White Diamond cannot detect this dimension?"

"It's a completely new dimension independent of the several ones I made for you individually and I never informed her of its existence," Peridot explained. "So she can't know about it. This is our little haven for now, but the second we get back to Homeworld, she's gonna contact me immediately and be _pissed_."

"And how will you handle that?" Garnet asked her.

Peridot shrugged. "Honestly, at this point I'm tempted to just tell her to stick it up her excrement expeller and shatter."

" _Woo!_ I vote for that one!" Amethyst hollered. When the other gems gave her a look, the quartz shrugged. "What? C'mon, the second she sees Dottie-P as Dottie-P and not Trucy, not to mention all of us hangin' with her, White-Di's gonna know right away she's defected to our side. Might as well get a good line in; must be real frickin' _cathartic_ to roast a Diamond like that."

A wide smile formed on Peridot's face as she looked slyly over to Amethyst. "I knew there was a reason why I said I'd miss you the most."

"Well, I guess I'm for it," Lapis said as she shrugged. Even she was smirking a bit. "There's no reason to keep up the façade that she's White's loyal little Diamond anymore, right?"

"Y'all know how I am about makin' a verbal impression," Bismuth contributed her opinion with a grin. "I'm _all_ about talkin' to White Diamond like she's some defective piece of scrap!"

Connie couldn't help but chuckle at the idea. "I-it's really funny; I'll admit that. If there's no advantage to be gained in pretending to be White Diamond's ally anymore, I don't see why she shouldn't be allowed to vent. We clearly saw that even as an ally, White Diamond doesn't respect Peridot, anyway. She's treated Chartreuse just the way she'd treat Yellow or Blue if they were still here."

Peridot leered at Garnet and Pearl, the two members of the team visibly not on board with this move. "You know, even if Steven actually chose to side with you stiffs – and you know full well he wouldn't – you'd still be outvoted at this point," she pointed out with devilish delight. "I'd say that means the movement is passed and I will be as vulgar with White Diamond as much as I desire." She snickered while Pearl just facepalmed and Garnet huffed out in resignation. "Garnet, are you sure you want to put me in a role of authority again?"

"Well, Ruby fully endorses your plan, for what it's worth," Garnet gruffly admitted. "The fact remains that you are in a crucial role for this mission, so you must have some degree of control over which course to take from here on out. Peridot, are there any other gems on Homeworld that are not yet infected?"

"None that I know of, sadly," Peridot sullenly admitted. "White told me ahead of time that she spared most of my kind solely because she was intent on using them to either entice me to her side or make them obstacles for all of you… clearly, you see which route that ended up going. I really want to believe there are _some_ gems still on Homeworld who've not been made pallid yet, but White's not once insinuated that any others remain. Considering we're on borrowed time and White Diamond obviously won't let us traverse the entire planet to search for survivors, I'm not sure if there's anyone else we can save at this point."

"I can find out…"

Everyone looked down to the young man still resting in Peridot's lap. He was finally drinking his juice. His voice was slightly muffled from the straw and still clearly weak, but Steven was finally conscious again.

" _Steven!_ " Peridot couldn't resist crying out. She leaned over and caressed the side of his face. "Oh, don't start talking like that when you look like you just came out of a coma. You need to take it easy; I haven't been considerate of your human limitations…"

Steven smiled serenely as he gently spoke between his sips of juice. "Well, to be fair, we weren't considerate of your limitations when we were preparing for the trip here. If we came just a few hours sooner, you might've never had to go through all this, Peri…"

Peridot was distraught when she saw all of her friends look sorrowful and guilty just as Steven said this. "For the love of– Steven, you just infected all of your friends with your stupid martyr complex! _All_ of you, stop that right now! Things could've worked out better if we did things differently, sure, but that's in the past now! We can't afford to get hung up on something we can't do anything about now! You can mope all you want when we get home on your own time; until then, _get your act together!_ "

That quickly snapped everyone out of their funk. Garnet in particular smiled at Peridot.

"You see now why I'm insisting you step up in your role again, Peridot," she said knowingly. "It isn't the fact that you are an ascended gem with great power that I feel you should collaborate with me on leading our team this time; you are still as bold and driven as you were in the last mission when you hardly had any power."

Peridot smiled, bashful upon being reminded of the traits she was praised so much for in the mission she headed. "Right; I understand. Since you saved me, I owe you all a favor, anyway." She looked down at Steven again, who was steadily recovering. "So, you said you could do something…?"

Steven nodded. "I can use my aura sense to detect any other gems still left on the planet; pallid or not. I promise it won't take that much out of me. Once I get a read on where they are, I can relay that to you, right?"

"It's very probable," Peridot admitted. "So, your idea is to let me know exactly where any remaining survivors are… and with that knowledge, I can poof and bubble them simultaneously and send them to Earth like I did with the Peridots. That's what you're thinking, right?"

"You know me so well…" Steven dreamily said with a wide smile.

Pearl leaned in to start feeding Steven the granola bar. She looked to Peridot with uncertainty. "Are you sure that will work? Because if we can pull that off while we're still in this dimension, we can focus on our final task without any distractions."

"Yes, I think this is very feasible," Peridot assured her. "So long as Steven can give me a visual on their locations, I can impose my abilities from a great distance. I just have to want it enough, you know?"

"Steven, Peridot is right about you overexerting yourself," Garnet stated. "We will need those same powers to contact Greg so he'll know where to pick us up, so do your best to not push yourself too hard."

"I've been meaning to ask something," Connie spoke up. "Peridot, couldn't you just will Steven back to full strength?"

Peridot looked uneasy with addressing this, but she tried her best to explain it. "I know having the ability to make things happen because I want them to or conjure any object of my desire out of thin air sounds like a limitless power, but there's some setbacks: first of all, I'm still highly inexperienced. I was nervous about transporting all those bubbles to Earth; such a specific action requires concentration and a full understanding of the destination I wanted to send them. I needed to be able to visualize it. Honestly, my first desire when you all encountered me as Chartreuse was to immediately send you all back to Earth, but I was too afraid to try. One wrong move and I could teleport you in some random quadrant of outer space. That would be instant death for you and Steven, Connie."

"That's why you needed Steven's help to fully heal Ruby and Sapphire, isn't it?" Lapis realized. "You could undo the internal damage you inflicted on them, but you can't actually heal wounds."

Peridot nodded. "That's the other setback; beyond needing the time and ability to concentrate on a specific desire with a straightforward objective, I need to understand what kind of power I'm attempting to wield if I'm to replicate any of your powers. I don't believe I have the right state of mind to be an empath like Steven; I don't fully understand the powers he inherited from Pink Diamond. And that's not me being down on myself; I believe this is a scenario of… well, you either have it or you don't have it. Even if I willed myself to have it, my lack of comprehension for these powers could prove to be disastrous and cause damage that no one can fix."

"It must take loads of responsibility to use your power the right way," Bismuth acknowledged. "I can't begin to imagine how gung-ho I'd be if I could just make things happen 'cause I wanted them to. It's a good thing you're the right kinda gem to have the power, Peri."

"H-haha, I greatly appreciate that, but maybe save the praise for when we know for sure I won't inadvertently screw us over," Peridot urged as she failed to hold back a chuckle. "While we're safe here, we should definitely make the effort to save everyone we haven't found yet; all bets are off once we leave this dimension. Everyone needs to be ready to fight at a moment's notice – the longer I make White Diamond wait, the more likely she's going to greet me with another blast into the wall."

By this point, Steven had recovered enough to sit up on his own while he finished his meal.

"It's gonna be okay, Peridot," he said as he comforted his beloved gem. "You know how you said in the past that just having me around makes you feel stronger, and keeping me in mind keeps you stable? I want you to be that for me; I've already felt it a few times before. As long as we're together in this, you can be my center of gravity, too."

Peridot froze when she registered those last words. That was one of the sweetest, most heartfelt sentiments the gem had ever heard from her cherished hybrid – which said a lot, considering how notorious Steven was for being sweet and affectionate to all his friends and family. She didn't even try to resist blushing a deep green; Peridot was _that_ moved.

She wanted so badly to kiss the boy right then and there – she wanted to ravish him and immerse herself in that empowering, seemingly endless pool of affection that Steven so frequently projected. It was very unfortunate Steven had to drop a line like that now when literally all their friends were nearby with their full attention on the pair. They mutually agreed after their moment of self-indulgence earlier that they needed to keep their heads set on the mission from here on out.

But no, Steven had to go and say something that made Peridot's insides explode with euphoric joy. Now the desires were quickly dominating her mind… right before Peridot was about to save all of the other Homeworld gems, no less.

"I– th-this… is going to prove to be more complicated than I thought," Peridot hastily decided. "A-and I can't concentrate with all of you _looking_ at me! I-it's making me self-conscious! I'm gonna need more privacy to pull this off…" That felt like justification enough to handle this sudden surge of longing desire.

Most of the Crystal Gems could tell quickly what the issue was. Steven seemed oblivious, but he never stopped eyeing Peridot while maintaining his smile.

"Provided you behave wherever you go and stop yourself from doing anything foolish, I condone the two of you teleporting somewhere more private if that's what it takes to save the remaining gems on this planet," Garnet determined after carefully thinking it through. Her inner Ruby and Sapphire could tell one day there would be another wedding between gems in this family – not anytime soon, but it felt inevitable. In all good conscience, she couldn't bring herself to break this pair up now. Just by watching Peridot's reaction when Steven used his beloved's special term she had been using to describe him for a while now, Garnet knew the young gem was overwhelmed with a certain craving that would take a very long time to wane on its own.

Peridot was shocked to hear this. "Y-you… Garnet, d-do you really mean–?"

Garnet nodded; the rest of the team looked quite accepting of the situation. "You can't face White Diamond when you're overwhelmed like this, Peridot. You know leaving this dimension is the point of no return."

"I-Indeed it is," Peridot agreed. "Very well… um." She was grateful for the support, but at the same time massively self-conscious that _everyone_ knew what she needed and why. Steven seemed to be much calmer about it. "W-we won't take any longer than we need to," she assured her team. "Thanks for your patience and–" she paused just before she embraced Steven. "Thank you so much for not rejecting me and kicking me out for all the stupid stuff I did to you before… your approval means the world to me."

Seconds later, the pair disappeared.

"Those two are going to be a nightmare to keep under control," Lapis deduced with amusement. "Especially since they both just hit a growth spurt. We can only do so much to make sure they don't do anything _too_ stupid."

"Trust me; their actions have already created many forks in the road of the future," Garnet informed her. "Remember that they're both Diamonds now; in due time they will learn to use their powers to elude us if they feel the need. You know how impossible it will be to talk down Peridot when she wants something… or someone this much."

This didn't sit well with Pearl. "Are you seriously suggesting we should let them make their own mistakes? These consequential risks are far from minor ordeals!"

"I think G's just tellin' us there's only so much we can do to stop 'em before they start," Amethyst clarified. She seemed relatively ambivalent with the current situation and imminent future moments like this. "And I say just let nature take its course. Ste-man's actually becoming a _man_ now, y'know. I'm surprised the dude's as calm as he is right now; Greg always made it sound like boys are raging douchebags when they hit that "teenager" phase. And to be fair, I've seen a lot 'em over the years that fit the bill…"

"They're still awfully young – at least Steven is," Connie nervously pointed out. "I'm choosing to give them the benefit of the doubt and think they could be trying… something else entirely. Something they haven't gotten to do before."

Bismuth leaned in and whispered to Lapis, "While we're waitin' on them, maybe we should use this time to get to know our fusion better."

Lapis, while nervous, looked up and smiled at Bismuth. "I'd like that. Thank you…"

"… speaking of age, perhaps it's time to announce the winner of a certain betting pool," Garnet spoke up, sounding a bit devious.

" _No way!_ She told _you_ her age?!" Amethyst was in disbelief. "Before me?!"

Garnet smirked to Amethyst. "In her message to me, she told me at the end. We're all together now in a situation where there is a possibility not all of us will survive. I believe it's high time we settled this competition."

"Peri figured out we had this goin' on," Bismuth said. "She wouldn't tell me the answer, but she suggested a certain kinda rule to add some challenge to this. Anyone know what The Cost is Correct rules are…?"

Amethyst nearly busted up laughing. "O-oh _man!_ Talk about insecure! That means the closest number without going _under!_ "

Garnet smirked. "That does make this more intriguing. Is everyone ready?"

Bismuth and Lapis smirked at each other.

"The fusion can wait for just a minute, right?" Bismuth asked rhetorically.

"We are _so_ not missing this," Lapis agreed; she had been looking forward to this moment for a long time.

* * *

" _Mmph_ – St-Steven, a– little gentler; it's not easy concentrating on all these isolated gems at the same time…"

"S-sorry; I just wanna make sure you're still connected with what I'm sensing, h-heh…"

Peridot narrowed her eyes at the enamored boy below her who now settled for kissing down her neck. "Of _course_ you are. Now, you're absolutely _certain_ this is everyone?"

"Mmmyep," Steven affirmed, sounding casually sure of himself. "I promised I'd save as many lives as I can, even if they're infected… I'm not overlooking anything."

That made Peridot sober down a bit, which at least helped her to concentrate better. "True… you wouldn't be you if you weren't going out of your way to help everyone in sight," she conceded. She brought her index and middle fingers up to her forehead and concentrated; they had already been poofed and bubbled. Once Peridot confirmed the lengthy address, they were all sent off to Earth with the others.

Once that was finally done, Peridot felt a little faint and collapsed over Steven, who wrapped his arms around her and made sure she was held closely.

"Y-you okay, Dot…? That looked like it hurt…"

" _Grraah!_ I forgot I did this last time as Chartreuse," Peridot growled in frustration as she pulled her visor up to rest over her hair, unmasking her eyes. "It was easy then… d-don't worry; the transfer went through as intended," she quickly assured Steven. "That just gave me a massive headache for pulling it off… probably because this is well beyond a normal Peridot's reach. White wasn't kidding about the low glass ceiling imposed on me in this form…."

Peridot's pain soon went away when she felt a wet pair of lips kiss her gemstone. She felt herself swooning with the sensation… and now that their job was done, and Homeworld was officially bereft of sentient life besides White Diamond and the Crystal Gems, the ascended gem let the faint traces of her professionalism melt away, leaving behind only the heartfelt desire she had since she heard Steven use her name for him on herself.

"You know I don't care about stuff like that," Steven adamantly told Peridot as his passionate kisses returned to her lips. "H-how many times do you gotta make yourself do amazing things before you really believe me when I say you're the best? Y-you don't _need_ to impress me; I'm already sold, Peridot…"

"Maybe I like impressing you," she replied teasingly, returning his kisses with nothing holding her back now. "You know how much your praise means to me…" Honestly, Peridot had thrived off praise in general ever since her Homeworld days. Ever since she was first commended for her fortitude on the assembly line, the technician hungered for positive feedback to bask in the glow of self-validation.

Steven knew this, too. Peridot always glowed her brightest when she received praise for anything. He wondered sometimes if that was just a trait ingrained into her very essence, as she was only ever meant to be a bottom-class worker who otherwise got no respect or recognition.

"Is that why you broke down and dragged me here?" Steven asked with a sly look in his eyes. "Could've sworn you said back in that _other_ pocket dimension that we gotta stay focused on the mission from here on out…" He obviously didn't mind, though. While he continued to give Peridot kisses between his sentences, his hands explored the curves brought on by his partner's growth spurt.

Peridot grumbled with embarrassment as she eagerly received his kisses and returned them in kind; her arms wrapped around Steven's neck while she used his body as a soft cushion. Her legs were starting to twitch; instinct was screaming at the gem to straddle the body below her, but she resisted it for the time being.

"I just can't believe you called me that…" Peridot didn't want to specify, but she didn't need to; Steven knew exactly what he inadvertently did to woo his beloved gem. "Steven, I know full well we're moving way too fast, but… I-I just can't stop myself! I want this too much! I **want** this, what we have right now, more than anything else in the world. A-actually, I want more than this! But what even _are_ we right now?! All this stupid Diamond business has messed with my head so much, you came back just as I accepted that you wouldn't come back, everything's so–"

Steven silenced Peridot again, this time with a much deeper kiss. His hands squeezed tightly around her waist while engaging in the kind of kissing Peridot tried during their very first time. Back then, it was for the sake of collecting a sample to test a hypothesis. This time, Steven just wanted to indulge in that feeling he remembered being nearly overwhelmed with the first time Peridot did it. Being on the receiving end of it now, Peridot was the one trying to contain herself… but it didn't take long for her to match Steven's technique; she was the one who introduced him to it, after all.

Of course, Steven did eventually need air after a while, but Peridot wasn't too disappointed when their lips parted; she was feeling a strong afterglow from Steven returning her affection.

"Safe to say we're definitely boyfriend-girlfriend by now," Steven told her, sounding like he was almost in disbelief that he was actually saying this to Peridot. "A-and I didn't care about the Diamond thing enough to let it define me, so that's how I'm gonna see you, too."

"Honestly, your human terminology makes no sense sometimes," Peridot blissfully sighed out. "Boyfriend and girlfriend sound far too platonic for the nature of a relationship like ours…"

Steven laughed at that assessment. "Okay, yeah. You have a point there. Our language can be pretty weird… and yeah, we are kinda going into this making it up as we go along… though I kinda think that's the fun of it, y'know? It wouldn't be as interesting if we knew exactly what to do every step of the way…"

"I'm more worried about how far we keep taking it," Peridot admitted with a very timid voice. "I'd be far less concerned if this bizarre supernatural nonsense didn't happen to us, but… going from Peridot to Diamond has clearly messed with my body in ways you are obviously en _joy_ –iiing…" And evidently Peridot as well, once Steven squeezed her in a certain place. "A-and… and somehow I jumpstarted your organic growth that had been delayed for so long due to your status as a hybrid. So without knowing how, why, or that it was even possible, a single memory of mine enabled your body to bypass the gem part of your biological makeup, and now you're bigger with all the human drawbacks that come with this stage of your life. I only hope you're not stuck in that limbo for too long… it sounds painful."

"Aha, ah, you mean my voice, right?" Steven chuckled uneasily. "Don't worry; I'll find a way to sort that out… but Peridot, I don't want you to feel bad about what happened to me, okay? I wouldn't have been able to put you back together if you hadn't shown me how White Diamond sealed away that fiery part of your identity… y'know, one of the parts I like the most about you."

Peridot blushed at that remark. "You really like me when I'm being unapologetically savage?"

"After we took you in, yeah," Steven affirmed. "I still like thinking back to when you kept slap-attacking me because I called you _cute_. You know, the fact you took offense to that just made you that much more adorable."

"Oh my stars, shut _up_ , I can't believe you're even talking about that!" Peridot exclaimed, both out of embarrassment but flattered amusement. She blushed harder after hearing herself just then. "Geez, listen to me… I am positively smitten. Do you really think you can put up with my constant and aggressive affection?"

Steven smiled. "It's like I told you at the Kindergarten last week… I'm never comfortable with being put on a pedestal unless you're the one doing it. And I'm not saying that to toot my own horn; I just know out of anyone I know who'd ever talk about me like that, you're the only one I know for sure will mean every word you say to me. I did invest a lot of time helping you adjust to Earth, and I loved every second of it. I just… really underestimated how much of the real Peri you were forced to hold in during all that time as a Homeworld gem."

"It's surreal even now, thinking back on that," Peridot agreed. "Steven, I was a _horrible_ gem before I went to Earth. I told you as much in my message, but–"

"You don't need to recap," Steven told her. "When I tracked down that fiery part of you through our aura, I saw a lot of memories and scenes from your daydreams fly by. Not in their entirety, but… I saw some of the "hits", I guess you could say." He looked to her, not with a face of contempt, but rather pity. "I saw the one about 3UI."

Peridot recoiled with fear upon hearing that; she was clearly terrified. "O-oh stars, _no_ , please not that one," she quietly wailed. "Out of all the times I was a total menace to my coworkers, that's the last one you should have seen!"

"I can't condone it, but clearly you don't either, anymore," Steven said to soothe her concerns. "I understand why you acted that way, though. It's like you told me… nothing ended well for the few gems you worked with who did want to be friendly. You were rewarded for your behavior, so you were enabled by your bosses to be as nasty as you possibly could be. You wanted to survive, and you saw firsthand that getting soft even for a second threatened that. You wanted to be at the top more than anyone else, and you were willing to do whatever it took to get there since morality on Homeworld is either super twisted or doesn't exist. I mean, I hate admitting it, but you're right… if you weren't the monster you used to be, you never would've been able to meet the Crystal Gems and become the great and lovable Peridot you are today. Life is strange, huh?"

He was met with a very deep kiss in response; the tears streaming down Peridot's closed eyes and the moaning that couldn't escape between her lips were indicative that Steven somehow just made Peridot fall in love even harder for him… if that was possible.

Steven opted to silently enjoy this moment; he wasn't about to talk over the muffled sound of raw emotion coming from his girlfriend.

"Oh, Steven," she pouted once he needed to breathe again. "I'd say I love you, but that doesn't even come close to accurately describing just how intense that sentiment is. Even if I said it nonstop all day long, it wouldn't reflect even 1% of how much I mean that. I-I don't know if it's even possible to express the full extent of my love in tangible form, and I really want you to know, in full, how much I cherish you."

"Give it time," Steven softly told her as he reached over to run his fingers through Peridot's hair. "I think I've got a pretty good idea how you'll show me exactly how much you love me. We both dreamed about it already, even if we don't know what they'll look like yet. Just be patient for a few years, okay?"

That was a quick way to break Peridot's composure. " _G-gah_ , you're still on about that?! Th-they're just fantasies, after all…"

"True, but I like to think at least something like that will happen someday when I grow up." Though it wasn't that different from Peridot's, Steven enjoyed his version of the scenario of the two in a stereotypical happily married family. "I felt so much happiness and pride when I dreamed about it… like, on a level I don't think I've actually felt yet in the real world. You know what I think the funniest thing is about that whole dream?"

Peridot groaned, rolling her eyes. "I don't know, but you're going to tell me and I'll immediately _regret_ knowing it, I'm sure…"

"It's the fact that you're like the textbook example of a housewife in both our takes, and somehow you're not only perfectly fit to be one, but I've never seen you happier than I have in this dream! I saw a bit of your version, too! I just… I never thought you could look more full of life than you do right now, but Housewife-Peri is the reigning champion of all the happiest Peridots I've ever seen, real life or fantasy! My version of you _is_ dressed a little better, though." He poked at her nose in jest and enjoyed watching his girlfriend's face heat up, almost entirely a couple of shades darker than the rest of her light green skin.

"I was right! I regret now knowing this _a lot!_ " Peridot's cheeks were burning hot at this point; she had consumed enough human media to get a vague understanding of the stereotypical American housewife ripped straight out from the 1950s and the negative connotations surrounding it. Based on how she understood it, that honestly felt like the last thing Peridot would ever be; to be fair, Steven would have never seen it coming either if he wasn't explicitly told that detail by Peridot in her "final" message. "I-I am a technician, for stars' sake! N-not some stay-at-home maternal unit!"

Steven could not stop being amused at how easy it was to rattle Peridot. "Hey, nothing's keeping you from being both one day. You're awesome enough to be whatever you wanna be and do whatever you wanna do. You're representing willpower, y'know?"

"Whatever I wanna be… whatever I wanna do…" Peridot was hung up on those particular details all of a sudden. A warm sensation on her forehead coincided with her gemstone emitting a soft glow. She felt driven, now.

"Hey, Steven?"

Steven noticed not only the glowing bauble on her forehead, but a very determined-looking significant other. "Yeah…?"

"Before we go back… let's try it again, okay?"

Now Steven's gemstone was glowing in response. He looked up to Peridot, studying her expression. Steven could tell she was not only serious about this, but she wasn't taking no for an answer. Luckily for him, he was not in the least bit inclined to deny the gem.

He reflected Peridot's serious expression and offered a silent nod in return; no more words needed to be said from that point onward.

* * *

The shift from white nothingness to a desolate, predominately white wasteland was not quite the scenery the Crystal Gems had in mind when they finally returned to Homeworld. They weren't too far off from where they had been last before Chartreuse sent them all down one-way dimensional potholes; White Diamond's stronghold was even closer, now. But somehow, Homeworld felt even deader than before. The monochrome was unsettling enough, but now even that was beginning to fade into pure whiteness.

"Well, this is downright disturbing," Pearl noted as the group walked along. "I wonder if it's just a coincidence this happened after every single gem left on Homeworld was sent to Earth…"

"Or it might just be a sign of how piss-angry White Diamond's gotten since she hasn't been able to find us or her "Twilight" or whatever she called Peri," Bismuth suggested. "Say, what's up with that nickname, anyway?"

"Something-something twilight years of her sanctimonious career of experimenting on gems across the eras," Peridot dully responded. She was up front in the group but didn't bother turning her head to look at Bismuth properly. "She's crazy. Who cares?"

Peridot's friends knew there was something off about that response. She had been unusually quiet since she brought everyone out of the safety of their pocket dimension, though she did express the bare minimum level of gratitude when, after first returning to her friends with Steven, she was officially given back her tablet by Garnet and gifted the metal platform Bismuth had made for her right after she settled on Earth after the previous mission's conclusion. As an ascended gem, Peridot had the power to store any item away and will it back into existence whenever she had a need for it, so she didn't really need to carry anything. She did keep out her tablet, though, as that was a convenient means of distraction for her.

"I thought White Diamond would've ambushed us by now," Connie remarked as she looked around. "Now that I'm thinking about it, though… we did just take away all of her proxies. Does that mean she's helpless up there?"

"Well, she's a _Diamond_ , so I'm gonna give a hard "no" to that," Amethyst mused. "We majorly gimped her, I'm sure, but that just means we're forced to go into White-Di's lair to finish her for good. Ball's still very much in her court."

Lapis was tempted to fly around to do some reconnaissance for the team, but ultimately decided against it. "Don't forget she's consumed a _lot_ of gems since she went off the rails – including Yellow and Blue Diamond," she reminded the others. "And who knows how long she's been doing that from the very beginning… I imagine we'll still be met with proxies when we knock on her front door; they'll just be clones of her instead of the bodies of the gems she robbed for her surveillance purposes."

Pearl frowned upon being reminded of that. "There has to be a way to extract something out of White Diamond; she really may be our only hope of curing those gems. We know she won't do it voluntarily, but if I could just get a small sample of her essence, I can synthesize that into a true restorative agent and mass-produce it to cure everyone." She looked to Steven, who had been extremely quiet and a bit downtrodden since his return. "Steven, I was wondering if you could help me with that."

"H-huh?" Steven seemed to be off in his own little world until he was directly addressed. "Oh… sure, Pearl. What do you need?"

"It'll require some expert timing and a certain parasol," Pearl hinted with a smile. Her first instinct was to ask Steven what the matter was with him, but his motherly figure rightly assumed he would still be dodgy on that subject. This was hardly the time to focus on petty matters, anyway. "Are you up for it?"

It warmed Pearl's heart to finally see a genuine smile out of Steven. "Oh, right! Yeah; we'll need to keep an eye out for an opening, then. I'll stick by close to you, okay?"

Steven nodded to Pearl, apparently content with this agreement. By this point, Garnet made a point to match her pace with Peridot's; the young gem was still fiddling with her tablet. Despite most of her focus being on that than watching where she was going, she hadn't yet paid the price she usually had to for doing something like that.

"Peridot, this is not the kind of attitude you want to show to your friends before we engage in a conflict like this," Garnet whispered. "Don't think they haven't noticed. You're certain you won't reconsider sharing with us before we engage White Diamond?"

"There's nothing to share." Peridot stuck to her guns in this instance, determined not to make her issues anyone's business but her own. "Nothing that's relevant to anything we're doing at the current moment, nor any time in the near future." She narrowed her eyes, which were still on her tablet – but she clearly meant for this to be directed at Garnet "Perhaps you should acknowledge this is not the time to badger your co-leader over petty nonsense. If you're deeming me unfit to head the remainder of this mission, then by all means, take the reins."

Her attitude was grating, but Garnet endured it; she knew Peridot at least had a point that this was not the time to start a conflict. "You've not yet been a detriment to our progress, so I won't be resorting to that just yet," she noted. "But it's very unlike you to close yourself away from the people you love. I don't want White Diamond to take advantage of that, do you understand?"

"She's got _nothing on me,_ " Peridot boredly boasted. "Absolutely nothing."

Peridot held out her free arm and stopped, prompting Garnet to also halt. Everyone else abruptly followed suit when they noticed the two head gems no longer moving.

"What's up?" Bismuth asked, moving further up to the front. "You two see something?"

"It's an invisible barrier," Peridot casually reported. "A very strong destabilizing field meant to keep the "riff-raffs" out, she claimed. This is our proverbial "front door" we've been looking for."

Amethyst looked up to the White Diamond bust monument that loomed over the group more so than ever before. "So, beyond that point's the danger zone. Say, why haven't we tried to find something more like a back door instead? Surprise ambush always trumps the forward approach, right?"

"Unfortunately, White Diamond is not that much of an imbecile," Peridot replied as she continued tapping on her tablet. "I said proverbial because in all honesty, this is the _only_ door. The moment we disrupt this barrier and enter this territory, she will know about it immediately. This will be the point where she'll expect a report out of me; the rest of you shouldn't bother hiding. The Diamond of Omniscience is going to have eyes all over her stronghold no matter what cover you take."

"I doubt there's any point of continuing the charade that you're her underling," Pearl mused. "So it's going to be a hostile situation right out of the gate. We should go into this fully prepared to fuse; Steven and I already have a plan set."

Lapis looked to Bismuth. "Guess that means it's finally time to see what we can do together."

"And not a moment too soon!" Bismuth was visibly excited. "We'll make sure not to disappoint y'all."

"Uh…" Amethyst couldn't help but feel awkward after two pairs had already been determined. That meant her only options were a human she couldn't fuse with, an Era 2 gem she couldn't fuse with, and… Garnet. "You sure we shouldn't reconsider the pair-ups?"

The quartz's hesitation concerned Connie. "What's wrong? You can fuse with Garnet, right?"

"That's the problem," Garnet affirmed. "Sugilite has proved to be… of more harm than help in the past. It's been a long time since Sugilite has been utilized; I admit I'm uncertain if the high stakes of our current situation will be enough to tame her."

"You won't know until you try," Connie urged. "I mean, maybe we won't need that many fusions right away, but if the situation makes a turn for the worst, you two might not have a choice. Whatever flaws Sugilite has couldn't possibly override the risks we're taking engaging in this battle."

"Pearl and Steven are fusing for a specific purpose, they said," Peridot spoke up, though her tone was still flat and neutral. She also continued to not make eye contact with any of the gems. "Once that purpose is fulfilled, that should allow for partner changes as needed. We shouldn't immediately go into this conflict laying all our cards out on the table, so I don't recommend Sugilite until the situation calls for it."

Garnet nodded. "A fair point; I can hold my own regardless. Amethyst, you and Connie can cover each other. You're both more than formidable without a fusion. Just keep an eye out for the rest of us; multiple fusions on the attack should surely draw most of White Diamond's attention away from you two."

"Fair enough," Amethyst conceded, looking a bit more at ease now. "We'll be your support buffs until there's an opportunity for Stevonnie, Smoky Quartz, or Opal to take the stage. Maybe even Alexandrite if we're lucky."

"Or if we're _really_ lucky Obsidian," Steven added, which prompted the other gems to look his way. "Um, that's an option, right…?"

"Obsidian should be our trump card," Pearl determined. " _That_ fusion needs to only be used when we have White Diamond in a vulnerable position. Right, Garnet?"

Garnet nodded immediately. "Yes; all four of us will know when the time is right to form Obsidian."

"Are we done talking fusion strategy?" Peridot asked, now notably louder than she had been speaking. She couldn't hide the hint of annoyance in her tone. "I don't know if anyone's noticed, but we are all standing on a planet that is on a very slippery slope to its demise. Taking out White Diamond won't mean a thing if we go down with this clod-forsaken rock."

"Peridot, you sound angry," Lapis observed with genuine concern. "If something's wrong… if you're hung up on anything, you need to let us know right now. You haven't even made any plans for yourself; who you're going to partner up with or anything like that."

Peridot scoffed at her former roommate's concern and wouldn't look her in the eyes, either. "In case you've forgotten, Lazuli, I'm a Diamond now. Not by my choice, but it is what it is. I'm above this other nonsense, and I need to be the one who diverts the most of White's attention. Don't create drama for the sake of creating drama, for stars' sake." She bent down to collect a nearby stone on the ground.

Lapis could immediately tell whatever was eating Peridot was definitely not something to be ignored. If Peridot called her "Lazuli" these days, it was an immediate indication that she wasn't as "okay" as she would claim to be. "Peridot, I can tell when you're hiding something. You're not exactly a master of subtlety." She looked to Steven, who she expected would be fully behind her on calling out Peridot's attitude, but instead was dead silent. More than anything, he looked guilty. "See, you're being a hypocrite again. It's okay for you to trap me and Bismuth in a cramped tube until we sorted out our issues, but you're expecting us to just let your attitude problem slide before we confront _White Diamond?"_

"Consider this team meeting concluded." That's all Peridot said before she chucked the rock in her hand straight at the barrier. It became very visible when the rock made contact with it, and it was promptly turned into dust by the brutal destabilizing current. "There; that should wake her up." Peridot frowned just then. "Unfortunately, I'm not experienced enough to will away a massive construct like this made by a fellow Diamond; I'll simply have to neutralize a small portion of the barrier so we can safely travel through it."

As Peridot raised her arms to attempt this, a very concerned Steven spoke up. "W-wait, Peridot, maybe you should do this as Chartreuse Diamond. It might hurt you doing this the way you are now."

The ascended gem visibly twitched when she heard Steven speak to her directly; the others didn't need to see her face to know she was shaken up. While she appreciated her boyfriend's concern…

"The act of neutralizing a very small percentage of a barrier is not even remotely comparable to the act of poofing, bubbling, and sending every single gem remaining on this cesspit of a celestial entity to another planet way off into a distant galaxy," Peridot rebutted. "Your justified concern is acknowledged and appreciated, but do not question what I should or shouldn't do as my _true_ self; it won't be long before I'm forced to rely on that abhorrent form, anyway."

It was relieving that Peridot at least wasn't speaking to Steven with the same contemptuous tone she had with the others, but everyone found the young gem's phrasing even more of a cause for concern. She was supposed to be a co-leader here, after all.

"S-sorry…" Steven's apology was very indicative to his friends that there might be trouble in paradise. "I didn't mean to make it sound like you can't do anything as a Peridot… I just don't want you hurting yourself again."

"Not a single one of us will come out of this without getting hurt," Peridot said very darkly as she imposed her will on a specific cut of the barrier that would be big enough to let everyone pass through safely. "All we can control is how much we get hurt." A neon green aura in the shape of a round door formed on the white barrier that had now lost its invisibility cloak. Peridot was going for the bare minimum here, because deep down she knew Steven was right; she should be Chartreuse Diamond right now while doing this, because Peridot did feel a dull sting of strain course through her body as she neutralized the barrier.

The ascended gem had been keeping her budding identity crisis very much to herself. Although Chartreuse Diamond wasn't really that different from Peridot as far as personality goes (in fact, as Peridot said to Steven before, without her "backbone", no one had really seen the true Chartreuse Diamond yet outside of her brief moments of making peace with the Crystal Gems), she still felt dirty ever time she shifted into that form. Every part of it just reminded Peridot that she had been foolish enough to betray her friends and loved ones – even if that stint was short-lived and Peridot was rendered vulnerable in every possible way.

"Get in – be quick about it," Peridot ordered her team once a proper opening in the barrier was made. "This is not what I should be squandering my energy on."

Despite their many reservations about Peridot's attitude, the Crystal Gems followed this order with nary a complaint. Peridot was quick to dispel her alterations once she came through, bringing up the rear as usual.

Before the Crystal Gems even had time to survey their surroundings, a massive screen of White Diamond appeared before the group. As expected, she was positively _livid_.

"Twilight, I have no desire to hear whatever excuses you have for your behavior," she started in a most icy tone. "You are to report with your prisoners to my throne room posthaste – and never show yourself to me in that disrespectful and wretched _Peridot_ form to me again, are we understoo–"

Peridot wasn't even in the mood for a solid one-liner to further aggro her former superior; she instead held up her arm and swiftly brushed at the screen. She switched off the transmission and banished the screen itself into the ether. Not a second after that, Peridot made her way to the giant bust of the Diamond that represented her "home".

The others were understandably in shock that Peridot basically hung up on White Diamond, but soon followed her without protest.

Unsurprisingly, another screen appeared right in their path less than a minute later; White Diamond visibly insulted and enraged at the young gem's sudden surge of rebellion.

"That was _not_ a bad connection! You deliberately ended the transmission before I was finished speaking. Twilight, do you know what I've sentenced gems to in the past who've done that _on accident?!_ You should be grateful that–"

"Blah-blah-blah, whatever."

Peridot terminated the screen once again; some gems could see now that their co-leader looked _bored_ of this.

"N-not that I don't think she doesn't deserve being shut out like that, but Peridot… why are you provoking her like this?" Connie asked. "I don't see the advantage here…"

Finally, Peridot deigned to look to one of her teammates. Her facial features shifted to a fairly neutral expression, but there was a faint hint of friendly appreciation in there that Connie felt.

"Ever heard of the expression, "anger makes you stupid", Connie?"

Connie smiled a bit; she completely understood Peridot's motives now. "Not until now, but now that you've said it, that makes perfect sense. I'm gonna keep that in mind for any future conflicts."

"Well, that rang true for Yellow Diamond, as I recall," Bismuth added. "So, Diamonds aren't above lettin' their temper get to their heads. Maybe–"

Bismuth was cut off by another abrupt transmission from White Diamond. "Do _not_ make me come out there and drag you home! You've obviously forgotten your place again. I see you've brought my Starlight with you, at least. If you deliver her to me right away, I will consider–"

"Meh." Peridot swiped her arm through the air as if she was tossing the screen to parts unknown; instead, it was just swiped out of existence.

"She's gotta know we're gettin' close to her anyway," Bismuth grumbled. "That is one impatient Diamond."

The Crystal Gems made it; the sublimely-designed front gate glimmered and sparkled despite being just as devoid of color as the rest of Homeworld.

"You all brought my manager-turned-skeleton key, right?" Peridot sounded just a slight bit more casual when she asked this; even now, after a week, the young gem couldn't stop being so proud of herself for trapping Yellow Pearl and having her friends joyously abuse her power as a door-opener.

"I've been storing it," Pearl said as she summoned it from her gemstone. "I'm surprised we haven't actually used it yet since we got here; then again, I suppose a dying world like this would trivialize our previous obstacles."

Lapis tilted her head, raising a brow as she studied the gate. "Why do you even need it? She's expecting you, isn't she?"

Peridot nodded in a silent, appreciative "thank you" to Pearl as she handed over the bubbled Yellow Pearl. "To formally enter the gate, I would have to talk to White Diamond again and grovel at her feet for a few Earth hours before she'd let me in. Plus, she'd never let me enter her sacred little palace in my natural form. I prefer to have some degree of control when all I'm trying to do is enter a door to my destination."

She looked to Pearl. "You'd best store her or return her to Earth after this; we're not coming across any more locked passages once we go through that gate. No more tricks, no more traps. And White Diamond's well past the point of simply imprisoning you all. I can tell she's done with being the judge and jury – she is a full-blown executioner now."

"Let's storm this White Witch!" Amethyst declared with enthusiasm. "We _are_ the hostile takeover! We _are_ the revolution!"

Amethyst had no idea how right she was in saying that.

Peridot held out Yellow Pearl's bubbled gemstone before the gate, effortlessly unlocking the mechanism. Everyone watched as the elaborate gate opened up in an equally elaborate way. The lime bubble was soon returned to Pearl, who opted to send her fellow Pearl back to Earth. Once that transfer went through, Peridot stored away her tablet and summoned her lovely, ornate metal platform. On the inside, Peridot was thrilled Bismuth made this for her; this was much easier to maneuver with compared to that steel beam she used in the last battle. She made a mental note to herself to properly thank Bismuth for the gift once they got past this final obstacle. Peridot hopped on as it began to hover. There was room for two passengers, which was convenient.

Although Peridot wasn't in the mood to carry along passengers, she knew she needed to get her act together immediately; this was the _true_ point of no return. "Amethyst, Connie: if you'd like to hitch a ride with me, you're welcome to."

Of course, she invited the two teammates besides herself who had no involvement in any of the fusion plans. Both looked eager to hitch a ride.

"Heck yeah, I wanna take a spin!" Amethyst was very quick to hop on. She smirked as her feet were immediately secured when she landed on the platform. "Wanna crash a castle in style, Connie?" She held out her arm, inviting the human girl to take her hand.

"Oooh, I can't pass this up; it looks so fun!" Connie gladly sprinted over and took Amethyst's hand. The quartz pulled her up to take her spot. "Thanks, Amethyst. This is gonna be so cool; I just know it!"

Peridot let herself smile, though it was a tired one. She felt some odd warmth in her gemstone, but nothing felt amiss. The ascended gem reminded herself she shouldn't show weakness in front of her team like this; she knew Garnet would be judging her every move while they worked together.

"Is everyone ready?" she asked to every Crystal Gem. With nary a protest, they all smiled and looked to Peridot, nodding their heads.

"Great. Let's get this over with."

* * *

"Hmph. At long last, my Starlight and Twilight have returned home where they belong. But they brought along their rapscallion accessories and they present their selves to me in the most offensive forms possible. You two should be grateful that I am bereft of options; with behavior like this, you'll end up even worse than Yellow and Blue. I just may have to spend a few centuries rehabilitating the both of you so that the Neo Diamond Authority will not crumble in record time."

White Diamond's palace had a very straightforward design like her fellow Diamonds'. It didn't take long for the Crystal Gems to encounter her, standing on a podium. Unlike the other Diamonds, there didn't seem to be a majestic throne anywhere in sight. In fact, the throne room in general had more of a minimalist design to it, and of course, everything was colored a gradually fading monochrome to match the Diamond it housed.

"The Neo Diamond Authority, huh," Peridot remarked, sounding as unimpressed as she appeared. "Sounds like something you _just_ made up, White. This is the first I've heard of this concept."

"Seeing you speak to me in that repulsive Peridot form makes me feel all the more justified for not telling you," White replied with a very forced smile. "Behold, our new insignia!"

White displayed a new Diamond Authority logo, which automatically stood out because there was some actual color to it. It honestly wasn't too different from the first Era 3 design; just a color swap of the diamond shapes: pink shifted to the right where it was originally blue; a light chartreuse supplanted yellow on the left. White was still on top, as usual, but the interesting detail was the bottom diamond where it was once pink. Instead, it was a very difficult-to-distinguish color since it looked predominantly gray or silver but had frequent subtle gradient overtones of every color in the rainbow.

"You know, if you were just gonna do a cheap recolor of a logo you already have, you could have just used Era 2's," Peridot noted with genuine confusion. "Because there can't possibly be any more Diamonds for you to use; I don't know why you bothered keeping four in."

"Prepare yourself, Twilight, for I will soon open your mind to _all_ of the possibilities," White responded, still containing her rage that she was even speaking to Chartreuse Diamond like this. "And you will be so enamored with the power it will bring you, you'll never want to take the form of a lowly gem playing pretend again."

"Uh, I'm fine with the power I've already got, thanks," Peridot snidely told her. "You don't exactly have much of an empire left. You have no subjects left to serve you on a planet that's gonna crumble any day now. Is this how Diamonds deal with grief? Are you in your denial phase right now? Because it's _over_ , White. This entire charade ends today."

Peridot wasn't entirely wrong; White was fully aware Homeworld was beyond saving at this point. And when all her subjects disappeared suddenly, she had a bit of a private meltdown. But she remained firm and unflappable now; she knew of a way she could still salvage this. She just needed her two baby Diamonds in her grasp. White could tell Peridot somehow regained that fire of her personality that she sealed away, which was greatly aggravating for her.

"Oh, by all means, do your worst," White Diamond goaded her opponents. "Perhaps a few shatterings of your friends will snap you and my Starlight into shape– ah, even better! They can be my replacement pallid monitors!"

Amethyst smirked; she and Connie were still with Peridot on her hovering platform. "Oh _no!_ She's gonna turn us into a bunch of brainless walkers, guys! I'm shakin' in my boots over here!"

" _Anything_ but that!" Lapis cried out, playing along and trying to hide her smirk.

"Don't you dare take away my friends' colors away!" Connie added; she wasn't sure if White Diamond was really dense enough to fall for such a transparent act, but it was worth a shot, she figured.

Bismuth pretended to cower in fear. "Stars, _have mercy!_ I wanna live, I wanna live!"

"You won't get away with this!" Garnet decided to toss her hat into the charade.

Pearl by far overreacted the most, letting out a howling scream before wailing. " **A FATE WORSE THAN SHATTERING, OH NOOOOOO! H-HAVE** _ **MERCY**_ **, WHITE DIAMOND!** _ **MERCY!**_ "

Her overacting attracted White Diamond's attention more so than any of the others. And she recognized this Pearl; she had assigned this one to Pink Diamond so many millennia ago.

"Looks like we have a volunteer!" White declared with delight. She swiped at Pearl with full intention on making her a pallid drone, but was shocked to find her hand go straight through Pearl's still-overacting figure. " _What?!_ Y-you are not even–"

A bright flash emitted from behind White Diamond just then. Her giant form blocked the other gems from seeing what was on the other side, though they all knew full well who was back there. To everyone's surprise, a whimsical new being sprung up from behind the Diamond wielding a mighty… parasol.

"Oh my, oh me, what do you see? I'm just the doctor you need! It seems this Diamond bears not a vaccine! But perhaps we'll finally bring out that bloody cure!"

To everyone's surprise, White Diamond cried out in shock and pain, as the new fusion, still floating in the air, aimed their parasol right at their giant target. It was hard to see from a distance, but the parasol had a very pointy end to it – carried over from Pearl's weapon of choice – that extended far down to pierce the Diamond in the nape of her neck. Being that this fusion was part-Steven, and therefore part-Diamond, this fusion was strong enough to pierce even the body of the greatest Diamond of all.

"I'd offer you a lolly to distract you from the pain, but good golly, I know better!" the fusion said as they kept the parasol/needle firmly in place as they extracted whatever they could; clearly, the parasol could function as a syringe. "If only you were a more generous gem, it wouldn't have come to this! Fellow friends, I see you out there!" they shouted out. "Perhaps accept this gift of a _wide opening_ while it still stands!"

Garnet smirked. "True enough; we thank you for the gift, new friend." She motioned for the rest of the team to act, and they did so accordingly.

Lapis flew up carrying Bismuth, looking proud and determined. "Doesn't quite feel like the right moment yet to do it… am I the only one feeling that way, Bismuth?"

"Hah! Lapi, we'd be overshadowed by that eccentric fellow, no doubt!" Bismuth strongly agreed. "Our time'll come; don't you worry! We can't rush these things – our fusion's gonna be all- _Bismuth_ , all the time!"

"Hold on tight," Peridot told her passengers. "First thing we're gonna do is have a nice drive-by over her face. I'm feeling rebellious; who's in for some vandalism?!"

Connie withdrew her sword and smirked. "You're a good bad influence, Peridot!"

" _Please_ , she learned from the master here," Amethyst insisted as she summoned her whip. "Time to let White Diamond know "the Shorty Squad was here" all over her face!"

The rest of the Crystal Gems assaulted White Diamond all at once, who was surprisingly overwhelmed with attacks coming in from all sides on top of still being stabbed in the back by the new fusion. She couldn't block any of them, so she indeed felt pain as Garnet repeatedly jabbed her in the gut. Her airborne teammates could do better damage as they all centered their attacks on her head, where her barely-visible shining gemstone laid.

Peridot zipped by White Diamond's face with blinding speed; every time she passed by, White Diamond would sustain another deep cut into her face by Connie's sword and several more painful cuts and scratches via Amethyst's flail.

Although Peridot herself didn't contribute nearly as much (she did have to concentrate on transporting herself and her teammates, after all), she would will random objects into her hands and toss them in her face… the first thing was, oddly enough, a glass vase. She still had some residual irritation over White Diamond interrupting her attempts to relieve her stress after betraying her friends as Chartreuse. But she stopped chucking trash at White Diamond entirely when she noticed an open spot on White Diamond that she was just drawn to below her face. She felt a strong urge to dive down there and attack relentlessly, but much to her frustration, she had to stay put and let her stronger friends deal out the real damage. It always seemed that no matter what Peridot did, her natural form just refused to let her unleash her full potential. Her body was full of nothing but limitations. If she wasn't a randomly chosen science experiment, she wouldn't even have the metal powers she was currently using.

Further above, Bismuth had a similar plan to Amethyst and Connie, testing out which weapon made her hurt more: blunt or sharp. It was hard to tell, but when she noticed her teammates having the sharp approach, she decided blunt would be best to see if she could agitate those cracks. Lapis was the transport, of course, but she was conjuring something with her free hand; a nasty little surprise she'd deliver to White personally once it was ready.

"Hah! Almost feels like we over-prepared for this!" Bismuth laughed out. "With a dyin' planet and no more pallid drones White Diamond can use, she's pretty tame on her own, ain't she?!"

"I'm not adding to this," Lapis dryly told her partner. "If you end up jinxing us, I'm not taking any partial blame. Just make sure you aim for where Amethyst and Connie are leaving marks on her."

"Already on it!" Bismuth cheered as she smashed another spot on the next fly-by. "She'd better not be chargin' some bomb inside her…"

Lapis groaned. "Don't tempt fate either, please!"

* * *

The battle was very oddly one-sided at this point; White Diamond had yet to damage anybody, but while the mystery fusion of Pearl and Steven had the parasol-syringe stuck in the back of her neck, it seemed as the needle went further in that it hit a critical weak point, as White Diamond had been nearly paralyzed ever since. Said fusion was finally making some headway, seeing some glowing white fluid finally pour into the syringe's compartment.

"I say, _yee-haw!_ We struck oil! … As the Yanks would say, of course!"

"Hey, good job on where you stuck that inside her!" Peridot shouted out when she came close to the fusion before circling back to let her friends have at White Diamond's face again. "Looks like you remembered how we pacified Pallid Blue last time! I'm impressed you paid attention!"

She was obviously talking to the Pearl part of the fusion, since Steven was not directly involved in that battle.

"I always pay attention when I learn of a useful new battle tactic, my dear!" the fusion slyly replied. "I am a master of precision, after all! Half of me is, I should say, haha! My other half wishes to ride his shield like you!"

"Maybe I'll make that happen… if I really want it to," Peridot replied back, as if she was flirting.

The fusion blushed profusely while struggling to maintain balance on the end of their parasol. "Deary me, you will literally be my downfall one day!"

Amethyst made a gagging sound. "C'mon, flirting on the battlefield again?! You guys are so _lame!_ "

"So, what do we call you, stranger?" Bismuth asked as Lapis flew nearby .

"Hm…" The fusion looked to the trio on the hovering platform; Amethyst and Connie were still battering away on White Diamond's face while Peridot concentrated on the flying, though she couldn't stop looking down at a certain spot every time they looped around for a round trip. And now, once they got close to the fusion, Peridot was caught glancing and blushing at the fusion while looking somewhat conflicted.

Then it became clear. "In honor of my better half's better half, who coined that cute "Pink 2.0" name when she pretended to be our nemesis… I know; you know. I am Rainbow Quartz 2.0!"

Peridot overheard that and blushed profusely. She couldn't help but study the fusion's appearance now: surprisingly not at all tall; if anything, they were almost exactly the height of Pearl. Light pink skin, and similar body build to Pearl's only with Steven's stocky build being more prevalent from the hips down, but overall was far from stick-thin as Pearl was. The mauve hair was definitely inspired by Pearl's style, but much wavier and bouncier as Steven's hair was known to be. Blue and pink streaks accented it, but they weren't nearly as much of a draw to the eye as Rainbow 2.0's face. Pearl's gemstone was where it should be, and the fusion had four eyes; Pearl's were much more prominent than the pair of Steven's close below. The nose was Pearl's, but the build of the face was undeniably Steven's. Pearl's light blue blazer just seemed to mesh so well with Steven's iconic star shirt, though as per usual, Steven's clothes were far too small to properly cover this gem, even with Peridot going out of her way to make his clothes fit after the growth spurt. The jeans would have been more like shorts before the growth spurt, but now they were long enough to be proper capris. The shirt hung low enough that it _almost_ covered Steven's gem. Pink Pearl-styled slippers completed this fusion's look, and honestly, this fusion was much more enjoyable than Peridot anticipated one of Steven and Pearl would be.

She had to shake her head and shelve those thoughts now. Peridot needed to focus; no matter how well this battle was going for them now, she knew it could easily flip into the opposite scenario in a split-second.

"Nice to finally meet you, Rainbow Quartz 2.0," Lapis greeted as she and Bismuth made the rounds again. "Hey, let us know when you think you've got what you need from her! I've got a nice idea of how to use my water to help out."

"Tis a pleasure, my feather!" Rainbow 2.0 returned in kind. "And your timing is impeccable; I believe this liquid is precisely what we seek! Mind you, the second I remove this needle, madness will ensue!"

Lapis smirked. "Good to know. Keep it in just a minute longer; there's a thing I just _have_ to do."

Bismuth had a pretty good idea what Lapis had in mind when she watched her partner start to form projectiles from her water, quickly turning them into ice. "If you're gonna aim that where I think you are… _daaang_ , you are a savage!"

Lapis retained her smug look as she approached White Diamond's face. "Eh, she's had this coming for thousands of years." She closed in on White Diamond and the smirk turned into a very wicked smile. She raised her arm up, and a very large number of sharpened ice projectiles floated up accordingly.

"Whoops, dart in your eye!"

All of the ice projectiles hit White Diamond in the eye, which prompted her to leave a _deafening_ scream. The sound waves were powerful enough to blow Lapis and Bismuth back to the floor; the same rang true for Peridot, Amethyst, and Connie, though Peridot made a point to at least grab Connie and take the brunt of the fall. Peridots were far more durable than human beings when it came to impacts like this. Connie was surprised to find herself barely feel anything when she hit the floor, then gasped when she found a grumbling Peridot below her.

"P-Peridot! Y-you… oh gosh, are you okay?! Why did you do that?!"

Peridot scoffed as raised her head and propped herself up by her elbows. "I guarantee you, it looks worse than it is. I can afford to take bumps like this; you can't. Nothing much more to it."

Connie smiled and pulled Peridot up for a hug. "Well, thank you for protecting me, then! I guess even knights like me need it every now and then."

"Yeah, yeah…" Peridot tried to keep herself together. The fact that White Diamond could still send them all reeling from just a screen after all the damage she had endured was a telling sign that this was far from over. "Wait, crap. Where's Rainbow 2.0?!"

Connie looked over to White Diamond and found that the fusion was missing, as was the syringe.

"Ho-hoh! No worries, my fair ladies!" Peridot and Connie looked up to see the aforementioned fusion hovering right above them, sitting on the parasol/syringe like a magic broom. "We've got exactly what we need to start performing some miracles in the near future. I do believe that puts you in the clear to go all-out on the pasty little brute!"

"Excellent! So, do you have any really cool techniques that'll help take out White Diamond?" Connie asked eagerly.

"Not my area of expertise yet, I'm most sorry to say," Rainbow 2.0 apologized. "We have better fusions for "laying the smackdown", as you Yanks would say, so I'll see you another day! Lali-ho!"

The fusion split in a flash of light, and there stood Pearl and Steven in their place.

"Perfect timing!" Garnet commended as she ran over, dragging Amethyst along with her. "White Diamond is still weakened; if we take advantage of this right away with Alexandrite and Stevonnie, we can end this fight early when we finish her off with Obsidian!"

"Finally, some _good_ news," Pearl muttered as she rushed over to her teammates. "Let's not waste any time talking about it, then!"

Connie smiled to Steven and held out her hand. "Ready to rumble, jam bud?"

Steven nodded and smiled back; it took everything in his power to not look at Peridot, who he knew was forcing herself smile like crazy right now. "There's no better time for it. Let's kick Diamond butt!"

Peridot was indeed forcing her smile and waving the two off, wishing them the best. She couldn't wait to drop the act by the time they fused and headed back for the battlefield. Desperate for some kind of distraction, Peridot made her way over to the two remaining Crystal Gems on the sidelines; her own Peri Patrol. It looked like they both took the brunt of that scream which nearly destabilized some of the gems, as they were just now trying to get off the floor.

"I think that was a sign that I need to consult my cool ideas with my teammates before I go through with them," Lapis groaned as she rubbed her head. "That was a bad call on my part…"

"Well… look on the bright side," Bismuth sighed out. "You must've made her half-blind, at least. It'll be way easier to ambush her from the left, now."

They both looked gassed. Peridot couldn't bring herself to be too hard on either of them, and especially wouldn't send them out to risk their lives on the battlefield again in this condition.

"Just get some rest for the moment," Peridot insisted to both of her teammates. "I understand you have a fusion you're waiting to show off, but it's obviously not the best time if you're looking to stand out. Just let Alexandrite and Stevonnie wear the dumb Diamond down, and maybe if you're lucky, you can score the shattering blow before Obsidian forms to finish the job."

Bismuth and Lapis wanted to reprimand Peridot for being too overconfident and not taking the battle seriously enough, but when they took a good look at the battle, they quickly understood why Peridot was being so casual about this now.

"So, what're you gonna do?" Bismuth asked. "It's gonna look bad for the Peri Patrol if all of us are stuck on the sidelines while the others take out the biggest threat of all gemkind in the universe."

"Don't worry; your fearless leader is going to pick up the slack," Peridot sweetly assured her teammate. "Oh, I don't think I ever properly thanked you for your present, Bismuth!" She was quick to rectify that by going over to give the larger gem a genuine, heartfelt hug. "I absolutely love it. You've always been so good to me, Bismuth…"

Bismuth chuckled and returned the hug. She didn't say anything when Peridot gave her a very forced, generic thank-you when she was first gifted with her metal disc, but the blacksmith rightfully suspected the little gem was working through some kind of serious problem, and it was simply a matter of unavoidable poor timing.

"Come on, now. You deserve to have something nice after we left you out here for a week," Bismuth insisted. "I'm just happy to see you makin' such good use out of it already. I was worried for a second that you might not need it after all this Diamonds stuff came about!"

"Are you for real? If this thing can help me _not_ rely on the Diamond powers, I'll be using this as much as possible!" Peridot was enthusiastic to think of it that way, but…

"Except you know now that your metal power is connected to your powers as Chartreuse Diamond," Lapis dryly pointed out. "So… you're relying on them no matter what, really."

Peridot glared at Lapis before pinching the bridge of her nose in agitation. "Bringing down the mood as always, I see," she wearily acknowledged. "Good to see you're truly dedicated to something, Lapis, even if it is brutally murdering the very concept of fun itself. You love putting your all into that endeavor."

Lapis wasn't fazed by this baiting in the least. "Well, you sound a little cheerier now… but I'm sure something's still bothering you. Still not gonna talk about it?"

"N-not gonna–" Peridot just wanted to explode at Lapis then and there. "Do you not _see_ what's going on right behind me over there as we speak?!" She gestured to the battle, of course. "Seriously, what is _wrong_ with you?!" She wanted to do something destructive; she wished she could just kick Lapis or break something right now just to get it out of her system. Peridot hated that Lapis was still on about that, because she was right.

"Well, now you're just deflecting," Lapis calmly pointed out. "You really do still have major issues. I guess not even a final showdown with White Diamond's enough to get you to let go of that, huh?"

" _Rrrgh_ **SHUT UP!** " Peridot turned away from the pair before she lost her patience and really did end up hurting Lapis. She hopped onto her hovering platform, glaring at Lapis briefly. "Nice to see this is what I get for checking up on you! Next time, I'll know not to bother!"

She didn't bother waiting to hear any quips hear teammate had to respond with; once Peridot set her sights on the battle ahead, she was reminded that she was very drawn to a certain area of White Diamond before she was forcibly knocked away from her opponent. Now that she didn't have any pesky teammates to escort, she could finally act on that desire. Thankfully, it wouldn't get in the way of where Alexandrite and Stevonnie were attacking the Diamond.

Though she still felt that White Diamond wouldn't be this easy to fight without a very good reason, it was beyond Peridot why White would voluntarily let herself be roughed up like this, hardly even fighting back. And by this point, Peridot no longer cared for the reason. She just wanted White Diamond to suffer dearly for completely messing up her life; even in a best-case scenario, Peridot's identity as a Diamond would follow her for the rest of time no matter what. She felt like she lost a piece of her life the moment she let White Diamond awaken her; a piece of individuality she would never, ever get back. Peridot was determined to make her pay dearly for that.

As she closed in on her destination, Peridot willed a certain weapon into existence. It wasn't an exact replica due to the size difference, but she made sure it was no less potent; she would know firsthand how sharp and searing hot a pure energy blade truly was. Seconds later, with a bloodthirsty look in her eyes, she leaped from her platform to make a wide, clean slice into White Diamond's neck. She repeated this action over, and over, and over.

Each time she was hitting her target, but not making a dent. She was barely scratching the surface, even. It didn't take Peridot long to figure out why.

It's because she was _Peridot_.

A familiar fury bubbled up inside her; this was just like the kind she felt in her old workstation, after she had a full nervous breakdown and wanted to demolish the console she had been assigned since her first few days of existence. She first wanted to disintegrate it with an energy blast, but that felt too merciful. It wouldn't have been that fulfilling. So, after scaring off Lapis and Bismuth, Peridot indulged herself in giving that console the slowest, most painful death she could muster by smashing it endlessly until the console was not only reduced to rubble, but pure _powder_.

And she couldn't even accomplish _that_ on her own. To get the closure she really felt she needed, Peridot _needed_ her limb enhancers. It was such a disgusting feeling Peridot had to endure the entire time she took her anger out on her old console, and it was probably a fact that would have lingered with her much longer had Peridot not passed out after this event for several hours, only to wake up and reunite with Steven shortly afterwards. But now it was all coming back to her; how being a Peridot was so limiting, it was impossible to even get the kind of revenge and closure she needed on her own merits.

If she was to succeed in exacting vengeance on White Diamond for tricking her into thinking her neck was sliced by a blade and consequently cursing her with a Diamond's burden for the rest of her life, Peridot had to face the facts; face reality.

She couldn't do this as herself. She _had_ to become Chartreuse Diamond again to get what she needed out of resorting to this. Peridot was already here; already performing the action. She couldn't back away and reconsider. Honestly, she wasn't having any second thoughts about doing this to White Diamond at all. This was just a matter of settling aside her pride as a Peridot in order to complete an objective. She was still of sound mind to recognize her current actions would never give her what she needed.

"I hate you so much," she whispered with pure venom dripping from her tone. "I hate you! I **HATE** you!" Peridot's entire form became enveloped in a bright glow. _"I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"_

The rest of the combatants in the distance took notice to the unexpected presence of their comrade, who had transformed into Chartreuse Diamond by that point. Lapis and Bismuth had been watching from the sidelines in shock the entire time.

"You were right," Bismuth solemnly admitted. "Peri… we should've tried harder to talk about all this. It's just like last time…"

Lapis nodded. "And just like last time, she can't be reached right now. We _have_ to let her get this out of her system. I hope the others get the message, too. I don't want to see them shattered thinking they can talk her out of this…"

As Chartreuse Diamond, Peridot could wield a much larger size of the blade – close to the size of the original model. With her innate limitations no longer holding back her desires, Chartreuse could easily will herself to be strong enough to truly use a weapon 10 times her size. Since Peridot had no choice but to sink this low anyway, she let herself cackle out madly as a twisted Diamond would and went straight back to work.

This time, she was seeing results and hearing gurgled noises of agony coming from the severely beaten Diamond. No superfluous light came spilling out, but the intense heat of the blade and the force behind Chartreuse Diamond's blows were quickly putting several deep grooves in her giant foe's neck. Had this been the neck of a human, Chartreuse would have severed the jugular vein 20 times over by now.

Stevonnie was immediately concerned, but when the assault rendered White Diamond nearly lifeless – to the point that this just looked like _overkill_ – they pulled out of the battle and rushed over to the cackling Chartreuse, who was still slicing at White's neck like she was a butcher in a deli.

"Peridot, that's enough!" Stevonnie cried out. "She's down!" Chartreuse wasn't paying Stevonnie any attention; she seemed to be in her own little world. "There's no point in attacking her there, anyway!" That had to be the Connie side speaking out. "If you want to help us take her out, aim for her gemstone! This isn't accomplishing anything!"

Stevonnie frowned at what they just said. "I thought we agreed we're not using lethal force! I'll be no better than her if I go that far, and I'm not about to let Peri go down that path again!" The fusion grunted in frustration. "This is not the time for that! You can't let yourself get wrapped up in your moral beliefs at a time like this; the second you show her mercy is a second she'll take to shatter one of our friends! You really think it'll be worth one of our friends' lives just so you can sleep at night after this?!"

That's when Alexandrite, who was far too tied up in keeping White Diamond down to directly deal with Chartreuse's madness, noticed the inner conflict Stevonnie was going through. "Stevonnie! Continue on like this and you're going to defuse! Remember what our priority is!"

Stevonnie looked to Alexandrite and nodded. "Right; we need to take her out! White Diamond's made it very clear that we're not going to win her over no matter what we do, and she won't stop committing these atrocities until someone incapacitates her! And the only way you can pacify a Diamond is– _nrrgh, NO!_ We can find another way!"

Stevonnie growled, pulling at their hair in frustration. "We could seal her away! Banish her to some other dimension– and let some _other_ galaxy of innocent lives be wiped out by that maniac?! How do you think a solution like that wouldn't not only make you just as bad as the Diamonds, but _worse?!_ You can't throw your problems at someone else and expect them to do what you can't!"

The fusion was destabilizing, but the debate was too intense for Stevonnie to even acknowledge the consequence of their conflicting beliefs. "I-I'm just trying to think of alternatives, okay?! I _thought_ we were on the same page here!" Stevonnie stumbled to their knees as their eyes narrowed. "Peridot told us why you grew the way you did, you know. We know you were driven insane being forced to see Peridot "die" like that over and over again, and part of you _is_ on the same page! You were at war with yourself trying to decide how you _really_ wanted to deal with White Diamond! I guess we know which side you ended up sticking with, now! You're unbelievable!"

That did it; in an abrupt flash, Stevonnie dissipated and roughly ejected Connie and Steven away from each other. Both humans crashed to the floor, visibly in pain for more reasons than one.

All the while, Chartreuse had completely ignored Stevonnie and the conflict that led to their fusion falling apart. Her eyes were squarely on White Diamond's neck, enraptured with the sight of her being able to put her fellow Diamond through so much pain and agony. Each time she slashed the blade into the grooves, they gradually became deeper. The thought of going all the way through and having White Diamond's head roll lifelessly on the floor was a sight that, disturbingly enough, _thrilled_ Chartreuse. Now that she imagined it, she was eager to see it happen for real. Although that wouldn't be enough to truly kill White Diamond, Chartreuse just knew in her heart she needed to see this. Then, perhaps, she thought she might be able to move past the situation that forced her to take this form to begin with.

"I'm going to _love_ seeing how you function once I cut through you the whole way," she said with eerie delight. "Now _I'm_ the monarch who can say "off with your head"! _I'm_ the one on top, now! A _Peridot_ of all gems reigns over you now, White Diamond! Let that fact sink in as I separate that stupid head of yours from your stupid body, you vindictive little pebble!"

Connie staggered to her feet; it did _not_ feel good to be ejected from Stevonnie the way it played out. She quickly saw that Steven was relatively okay, but the girl held in her contempt while she turned her attention to her little gem friend – not so little now, of course – and grew all the more concerned listening to her gruesome delusions of grandeur.

" _Peridot!_ You need to cool down!" she called out in anguish while running in Chartreuse's direction. Connie made sure not to get too close to the carnage; she was _extremely_ vulnerable right now, after all. She also refused to address Chartreuse by her proper name; Connie was only interested in appealing to the kind Peridot she knew was deep inside that maniacal green Diamond. "I understand why you feel you need to do this, but enough's enough! You're not making as much of a difference as you think you are!"

By that point, a reluctant Steven had joined Connie's side. "P-Peridot, it's okay! Alexandrite's got this under control; please, you don't have to do this… anymore…" The fire in Steven's voice died out in a matter of seconds; he was not looking at Chartreuse with contempt like Connie was. He looked… a little conflicted.

Connie, of course, took notice to this immediately. "Steven, you could get through to her better than anybody! You need to stay firm with her; Peridot's in far too deep to just take out with a "please"!"

"I-I'm sorry." Steven knew Connie was right, but given what he was seeing right now… he understood it. He could feel exactly why Peridot was doing this and why she had to become Chartreuse Diamond to do it. His beloved gem was mixed in a turmoil of conflicting emotions, but one part of her that remained consistent was her desire to make White Diamond suffer. Of course, that was the dominant part of the ascended gem. "Peridot, c-come on…!" He couldn't bring himself to raise his voice, nor could he force himself to say anything he didn't truly mean.

Connie narrowed her eyes at the boy. She figured out why Steven was fumbling with his words, and she was not impressed.

"I'm surprised you're not _joining me_ , Steven!" Chartreuse cried out in maniacal delight, which shocked both of the young teens. This was the first time their fellow teen acknowledged what was going on in the outside world. "This was what drove you mad, was it not?! Seeing her do _this_ to me, constantly, and even if you closed your eyes, you could still see it; am I wrong in that assessment, Steven?!"

"Y-you're not," Steven glumly affirmed. It frustrated him to suddenly be unable to talk someone down from committing violent acts. "But it's still not… uh, right, to…"

Connie grit her teeth in frustration. " _That's_ why you can't talk her down from this. You _want_ this; you _want_ to see Chartreuse go all-out on White Diamond's neck, and you're not against doing it with her if you could!" She understood why there was a major bias going on given the context, but it didn't agitate Connie any less that Steven was blatantly contradicting himself. "You just wrecked our fusion because you're still under the impression that we can resolve this peacefully; you got on my case for focusing our attacks on her gemstone, but you see Peridot pointlessly trying to behead White Diamond and you're not only okay with it, but you're _endorsing_ it! You're such a hypocrite, Steven Universe!"

Steven couldn't dispute any of this, but he was _not_ in the right state of mind to be confronted and called out on his behavior that he was _already_ ashamed of. "C-Connie, just back off, okay?! You weren't there! You have _no idea_ what that was like! You don't have a clue what that _does_ to someone, get it?! I _know_ I'm being a hypocrite, Connie, but right now, _I couldn't care less!_ "

Connie's anger faded into frightul concern as she backed away from her fusion partner. "St-Steven, something's happening to you–" She cried out in pain as she was knocked back by a sudden ring of pink energy that emitted from the boy. He didn't mean to do it, but his consent was quickly becoming a non-factor as the latent traits of Pink Diamond suddenly became visible on Steven's body again.

As the small swordswoman struggled to get to her feet, she froze as she witnessed Steven bearing the same traits Peridot had seen a while back: hair that, while still distinctively Steven's, bore a glowing pink gradient at the edges with swirls and streaks sneaking in between the curls The overall style became a mix of his and his mother's. His skin tone was very much on the pink end of the spectrum while his eyes bore pink irises with diamond-shaped pupils. His outfit briefly flashed to the Pink Diamond ensemble he wore at the Era 3 ball, but it transitioned back to his default outfit soon after. It looked more like a warning; Steven's true awakening as a Diamond would only push him further off the deep end the more this kept happening.

By that point, Lapis and Bismuth willed themselves onto their feet even if they weren't back at 100% yet to cover for Connie. The moment they saw Pink Diamond's energy overtake Steven, they knew they at least needed to step in and make sure this team didn't completely self-destruct; Alexandrite was far too tied up to intervene.

"Connie, at a time like this, I think it's best we keep our distance," Bismuth advised the youth as she pulled Connie back. "He's been triggered by Rose's power; and trust me, I _know_ Rose's power. If any part of her will is in Steven now… there's no talkin' him outta anything, I'm sorry to say."

"So basically, you're saying it's like trying to negotiate with Chartreuse-Peridot in general," Lapis gathered. "We'd make better progress talking to a wall." She looked to Connie, fully serious. "Hope for the best, okay? With Alexandrite and these two full of rage, White Diamond's as good as gone… and that's what we want in the end, remember?"

Connie wasn't sure about this, but she didn't have the heart to resist her friends whom she knew were still recovering from prior injuries, yet went out of their way to protect her. "I guess you have a point," she conceded. "If this is the only way we can take out White Diamond without Steven immediately interfering with us, we have to take it. We can always help him recover after this is all over. It breaks my heart saying this, but you're all right; we just can't save _everyone_. If the ones who don't even want to be saved are threatening the people who do want that, we have to cut our losses…"

"You're a wise young lady, you know," Bismuth commended her. "You didn't throw a fit when I had to take out White Pearl on the veranda; Peridot had to stay behind and talk sense into Steven because he couldn't handle the fact that I did what I did. Not because I wanted to, but because I _had_ to. But you understood that right away, and I just wanna let you know I'm proud of you, Connie."

Lapis nodded in agreement. "I know sometimes you feel like dead weight on the team – I felt that way a lot in our last mission, too. But a team can't stay together without someone who's got a level head who can bring us all together and remind us why we're here and what we're doing. You've learned how to put your feelings aside and not let them cloud your judgment. I wish I was better about that aspect of myself, honestly."

Connie smiled and briefly embraced them both. "Thank you so much; I know you two and Peridot often feel like the odd ones out in this team even now, but just give it time. I'm so happy you're all really with us, and not just as a short-term deal. I want to get to know you all better…" Her smile faded. "But this isn't the time to pat ourselves on the back. I still have a bad feeling about all of what I'm seeing right now."

And Connie was right to feel that way; Steven's pink aura flared; it almost looked like he was growing again, but while he was in another mental civil war, an unexpected distraction thankfully put an end to that.

" _Steven!_ Or Pink 2.0; whichever one you are!" Chartreuse Diamond called out; her voice full of rapture. "Come join me! Let's give White Diamond what she deserves… _together._ "

Despite the pacifist part of his subconscious being very loud in his begging to resist this, Steven didn't stand a chance. This was his beloved girlfriend indulging in the best form of catharsis he's ever seen, lovingly inviting him to share the cathartic fulfillment with her. Now that his Pink Diamond powers were warping his mind, Steven had no problem seeing Chartreuse Diamond the exact same way he saw Peridot. He at least progressed in being able to act of his own accord this time rather than being paralyzed and rabid with anger as he was last time, though in this instance, that was far from being a good change. His hormones flared up as they did last time, and with _that_ twisting Steven's mind, he was actually appreciating Chartreuse's appearance much more than he ever had before. He suddenly didn't mind if Chartreuse Diamond just wanted to stay in that form once they got some alone time again…

"Thought you'd never ask," Steven eagerly agreed; he floated over with ease to his fellow Diamond and relished in the sight of Chartreuse getting her revenge several times over. " _Wow_ , that is hot… I gotta get in on this."

Chartreuse paused her assault to take in Steven's words, and she felt a glowing warmth pass through her body, she shivered with delight before leaning over to Steven and to reward him with a sultry expression and a kiss that matched the sentiment. It was the first time Peridot had kissed Steven as Chartreuse Diamond – for some reason, it just felt inherently wrong for her to act on her desires in that shameful form. It was the mark of a traitor, after all. But now Steven was different as well; she recognized this form. It was very similar to her own, in a way, so now it felt perfect to act on her intensified desires as Chartreuse Diamond.

She knew she made the right call when Steven returned that kiss tenfold. They easily could have stayed like that for several minutes, but the call of catharsis was still too loud for either to ignore. They would delight in taking revenge together. Part of Chartreuse knew this wasn't right; this couldn't possibly be the Steven she fell in love with, but it was quickly shoved aside by the Diamond of Will who decided she was tired of feeling guilty about everything, and her woes vanished just like that.

The awakening pink-accented Steven grinned as he summoned his spiked shield. "If she's freaking out over just a little slice, I wanna see how White Diamond handles a bunch of punctures at once on top of that!"

Chartreuse smiled knowingly at her partner. "By the stars, _I love you._ " She extended her free hand and held Steven's free hand tightly. "Let's do this; let's bring justice to this wench once and for all!"

Much more satisfying (to this pair, anyway) screams of agony came from White Diamond as she endured Alexandrite's constant barrage of varied attacks on top of Chartreuse and Steven's joint assault on her neck, which they were making great progress in breaking through. It didn't matter to either of them how pointless it was to focus on this spot; both had been traumatized by _that_ scene so deeply, they couldn't think of anything else. Connie, Bismuth, and Lapis remained on guard to look for an opening to possibly end their foe as soon as possible, but none of the trio felt this was truly over yet. Overall, this felt… _too_ easy.

The first instance of the tables beginning to turn were with Chartreuse and Steven; as Chartreuse Diamond continued to slice into White Diamond's neck like a homicidal maniac, she suddenly saw a very bright light shine from the deepened groove. Initially, she shrugged it off and continued digging into that wound, but once the light nearly blinded her, she flinched and pushed herself away from the carnage. Steven was quick to notice his partner no longer partaking in their shared vengeance, and then noticed the light a moment later. He also stopped his assault and backed up to be by Chartreuse's side, surveying the phenomenon.

"Something's wrong," Chartreuse Diamond told him. "That's a very powerful energy that should never be anywhere within the neck of any gem; even a Diamond. It's the type that suggests an attack of some kind."

Steven took in that information calmly; his creative curiosity flared up and was compelled to ask some odd questions. "But… some gems can fire attacks from their eyes and mouth, right?" he reminded her. "No reason why Diamonds can't, too…"

It all became clear just then. Chartreuse's eyes widened with legitimate worry and fear. She looked past their mutilated target up to White Diamond's very torn-apart face. Their friends were right up in that area. She nudged Steven and silently pointed over to Alexandrite, and he quickly understood what was imminent. Simultaneously, they cried out in their natural Steven and Peridot voices.

" **ALEXANDRITE! GET OUT OF THERE!"**

The massive fusion looked in the direction of their momentarily-sober tainted teammates, and just as it was about to move, it saw White Diamond's mouth open up with blinding white energy pouring out from it.

They knew it was too late to completely evade the attack. The best they could hope for was to make it out with a nick or a graze. The energy exploded from White Diamond's mouth, and despite Alexandrite's best efforts, they were caught in much of the blast, triggering another deafening explosion.

Lapis, Bismuth, and Connie rushed over immediately to see the condition of their three friends who were most definitely not fused as Alexandrite any longer. Being the team's token medic, Steven was also instinctively about to run over, but he was met with a nasty surprise when he was met with White Diamond's giant left hand that promptly grabbed the hybrid and held him in place. Chartreuse, of course, instinctively ran to save Steven, but she was met with a similar problem in White Diamond's right hand.

A loud, howling cackle of joy echoed across the throne room from the nearly-totaled White Diamond. She was pulverized, but she considered herself victorious. She had a fellow Diamond in each hand…

Garnet, Amethyst, and Peal were sprawled across the floor; each of them glitching out to indicate that they were, at best, moderately cracked. The remaining Crystal Gems could do nothing but look on in horror; with Steven detained, there was nothing they could do.

Everyone was shocked to see a second White Diamond appear behind the one they had been fighting. She looked almost identical to the first one pre-beatdown, including that ever-disturbing wide-eyed smile.

"I suppose I couldn't expect much from a construct made from cheap material," the second White Diamond said. She bent down to take Steven and Chartreuse into her hands; they were still held securely in her airtight grip. Once the exchange was made, the second White Diamond stepped directly on the gemstone of the first, shattering it instantly. The image of the defeated White Diamond disappeared in a flash, and in its place was… a mass of pallid gems, all of whom shattered at the same time.

"This entire time… all that energy we wasted…" Bismuth was beside herself with sorrow. "We weren't even hurting White Diamond at all. We were…"

"H-hurting innocent gems," Connie shakily finished. "All this time we fought…"

"... And we weren't even fighting the real White Diamond," Lapis darkly acknowledged. "I'm betting this one isn't the genuine article, either. We have no idea where the real White Diamond _is_."

White Diamond let out another howling cackle, seeing one half of the Crystal Gems on the floor at death's door with the other half just now acknowledging how hopeless their situation became. And in each hand, she had both of the prizes she wanted so badly all this time.

This looked like a pretty decisive victory for White Diamond, who barely had to make a single move to trounce the Crystal Gems.

" _NOOO!"_ Steven wouldn't take this lying down, even though he couldn't move an inch while trapped in the Diamond's left fist. "Y-you can't do this! White Diamond, you have to let me go! I'm _not_ gonna let them die!"

"Unfortunately, you have no leg to stand on, Starlight," White Diamond slyly reminded him. "I do wish you'd catch up and fully bloom, by the way. You see how beautiful Chartreuse turned out to be? This could be you, too. The three of us will make a perfect, happy little family… and next time around, we _will_ run our world perfectly."

" _No one cares!_ " Chartreuse barked at White Diamond before addressing Steven. "They're going to poof any minute now unless we act _immediately_. So… get ready. Just a little on each will be enough; don't linger."

She couldn't tell Steven her plan; not with White Diamond _right there_. She just hoped she and Steven were in tune enough to understand the bare minimum of what she could express to him. Chartreuse closed her eyes and concentrated hard; she didn't need to move her hands to make things happen; that was just her flashy way of showing off, as her inner Peridot would. All she needed to do was concentrate hard; thankfully she could visualize everything she intended to with Steven perfectly. In mere seconds, Steven completely disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

Steven reappeared on the floor right next to the fallen Crystal Gems. He barely took a second to realize what had just happened before he remembered Chartreuse's words and was _very_ fast to act, quickly slathering a thin layer of saliva on each of the four damaged gemstones before being forcibly teleported back to where he was before. It all happened so fast, he couldn't acknowledge his three conscious friends nearby.

"Nice try," White Diamond taunted the pair. "But you really should know better than to try escaping from the Diamond of Omniscience; especially in her own home." She made a point to squeeze Chartreuse extra hard as punishment, which elicited some pained squeaks out of the young Diamond. "Now, back to my point… I believe we've established who is in control of this situation. Starlight, out of gratitude to see you alive and well, I will help you along to bloom into your true form." She turned her head to the right. "As for you, Twilight… I have something _special_ in store for you. Another experiment; one never, ever attempted before. Just be patient while I help your big sister grow up just like you."

"Funny how you talk like either of us would ever consent to your demented plans," Chartreuse snidely remarked. "You are _not_ breaking me again, and you'd better leave Steven alone!"

Steven was more openly nervous. "H-honestly, I don't wanna grow up! Trust me, even if I did, I'm not gonna turn into the Pink Diamond you know! That Pink really _is_ gone; you can't get her back, and I'm sorry for that! But that's just how it is, White! Nothing you do is gonna bring her back!"

"Nothing I do, you say?" White Diamond eyed Chartreuse for a moment while she smirked. "I'll gladly take up that challenge. But before we begin, we should really discourage your lowly entourage from trying to disrupt our work."

She wasn't taking any chances; White Diamond's eyes flashed, and in an instant, Lapis, Bismuth, Connie, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst were trapped in roomy white bubbles that were, as to be expected of a Diamond, extremely sturdy. The bubbles raised up to be on level with the three Diamonds, so White could force the Crystal Gems to watch what she would subject their friends to.

"There we go; all is set up for everyone to have a fun time," White Diamond eagerly announced. "Starlight, let's begin with you. You're already halfway there on your own, but with just one little push…" She squeezed Steven hard, and immediately a raging aura of pink energy came surging out of the teen boy. He cried out in pain; both from the pressure of the squeeze and his Diamond energy being forced out of his body. Just like with Peridot's new Diamond, White was forcibly speeding along what would normally be an extremely lengthy process for Steven. The incident with the Peridot memory jumpstarting his development was an isolated incident, but White Diamond didn't know that… yet.

The brighter Steven's aura became, the more painful it was for him to endure. He could feel his entire body shift into a proper Diamond form; one he could thankfully switch out of like Chartreuse. His natural coloring gave way to his inherited pink energy.

Chartreuse, of course, was relentless in trying to break free to stop this, as it was like a bullet to her gemstone every time she heard Steven cry out in pain. She wondered if they could have avoided this if she had resisted her urge to go out on the battlefield to needlessly attack the fake White Diamond's neck. It was her reckless, petty desire for revenge that inadvertently ruined the Stevonnie fusion and kickstarted the Pink Diamond powers in Steven again – poisoning his mind to become just as vicious as she was.

Deep down within herself, Peridot had a strong feeling this was her own fault; every bit of this. She was a toxic gem who ruined the lives of everyone around her.

But White, definitely not in the mood for another stalemate with Chartreuse, was quick to shut her down with shocks and squeezes that were agonizing to endure. But when even that couldn't shut Chartreuse Diamond up, White forcibly muted and sedated her. That was the point where Chartreuse started to think this really was all her fault…

Steven, at least, had a much briefer and less intense surge of pain as White forced along his transition. With the faintest trace of Pink's spirit still remaining in her diamond, White was able to use her image as a template to impose on Steven. It couldn't be replicated; the results resembled more like that of a fusion; one of Steven and his mother in Pink Diamond form. But it wasn't exact; Steven was dominated with a pink palette, his hair, now very much a mix of his curls and his mother's puffed-up, wavy style, the color was much a notably darker shade of pink than the original Diamond. He retained his eye shape, but his irises and pupils were definitely Pink's. He retained the shape of his mouth, but his nose was much more like his mother's. Steven retained his head shape and much thicker body build on top of that. Again, like Chartreuse, his outfit completely changed; unlike Chartreuse, it was a replica of the original Pink Diamond's ensemble. He wasn't as tall as the real Pink Diamond, either, but he ended up a fair bit taller than Chartreuse. After having spent a lengthy amount of time conversing with her spirit, it was downright terrifying for Peridot to see her beloved and his mother's faces merged into one.

Steven was beside himself with panic once the transition was complete; this was not what he wanted _at all_. And now, just like Peridot, he had a shameful Diamond form that, while he could switch in and out of at will, would stick with him for the rest of his life. He was an awakened Diamond now; nothing could put him back to sleep.

Knowing Chartreuse would sooner run to Steven to comfort him than attack her, White Diamond was fine with unmuting and sobering up Chartreuse while freeing her from her grasp and giving the awakened Steven the same courtesy.

"Welcome back, Starlight!" White exclaimed with something that resembled a loving tone in her voice. "Or as my Twilight called you before, Pink 2.0. Come now; let's come together and celebrate the completion of our new family…"

Chartreuse wasn't listening to a word White said. She immediately flew over to Pink 2.0 and embraced him; both young Diamonds held each other and cried this out. Neither of them could form words right now; the situation had so quickly turned from optimistic and hopeful with everything going right to a complete and utter domination of everyone involved. There was no way to detect the real White Diamond, let alone fight her. White no doubt had endless clones she could use from all the melded pallids she made, and Homeworld itself did not have enough time in its lifespan for the Crystal Gems to comb through them all to find the actual Diamond of the group. Unfortunately, while Peridot was successful in getting all of the individual gems on Homeworld sent to Earth, pallid or not, she did not take into account the fact that several of the pallids were being merged into singular bodies to serve as a multi-purpose White Diamond proxies. They were no doubt beyond saving at that stage, anyway, but Peridot was so let down, thinking it was truly down to White Diamond alone versus the Crystal Gems.

She should have known better, she felt.

* * *

During a moment where White Diamond's attention was fully on Pink 2.0, Chartreuse took a chance to at least free her friends. She needed to be discrete about it, but it wasn't a hard task to accomplish for her at all; at least while she remained in this form she hated so much. In a split second, she teleported all of them out of their bubbles and quickly replaced them with identical holograms. Chartreuse sent her friends to a well-hidden corner near the ceiling. She doubted it was a foolproof hiding spot, but it was better than sending them back to the floor. At the very least, she was glad her plan to keep Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst healthy had worked, as they had come to by this point.

It wasn't long before White gathered up Chartreuse along with Pink 2.0 to begin the next phase of whatever psychotic plan she had in mind.

"So, you've got your stinkin' Diamonds," Chartreuse muttered with disgust as she held Pink 2.0 close to her; he was still in a state of shock, and the rush of the full extent of Pink Diamond's powers didn't help his mental state, either. "Good for you. This planet's still dying; how about you actually address that now?"

White Diamond looked so smug whenever she laid eyes on Chartreuse. The latter remembered she was going to be subject to some other kind of experiment, but she tried not to let that visibly rattle her; that would only satisfy White, and Chartreuse refused to do anything anymore that would make that creature smile.

"I imagine this will be a rhetorical question considering one of you came from the bottom-most depths of the caste system long after our most historical moments came to pass, and the other continues to have memory lapses, but have you ever heard of the Diamond of Miracles?"

Unsurprisingly, Chartreuse and Pink 2.0 gave White the looks that answered the question for her very thoroughly.

"Once again, this sounds like something you made up," Chartreuse challenged. "But if I were to hazard a guess, you'd want this so-called "Diamond of Miracles" to completely reboot Homeworld and somehow make it not a total hellhole, right? Only I know better when it comes to the likes of you, and odds are you're just gonna run Homeworld 2.0 into the ground and you'll ultimately end up in this position again."

White Diamond's right eye twitched slightly. "Twilight, why must you insist on stealing story time away from me? And you do it so disrespectfully."

"Because hearing you talk makes me want to shatter myself endlessly," Chartreuse flatly replied. "You are a blight on society and having any sort of affiliation with you would make me vomit if I had the means to actually do so." She looked to Pink 2.0 and pointed at him. "It'd make him vomit, at least."

"It pains me you still feel this way, after everything we've been through," White Diamond said with a painfully artificial tone of pity. "But I know of a way how you and I can come to reach a common ground. We all need to be able to get along if this new family of mine is going to thrive and prosper." She ignored Chartreuse rolling her eyes at that remark. "You were a bit of a problem right before I turned the battle around, as I recall. You wanted so badly to go for my neck, you dragged my Starlight into it and poisoned your fellow Diamond with your hatred, did you not?"

Chartreuse immediately ducked her head, because she didn't want to give White Diamond the satisfaction of knowing she struck a weak point. It was still a fresh moment of shame she had to endure; she wasn't even sure if Steven held anything against her for it. She wouldn't blame him if he did…

"Sounds like you're embellishing the story, as is the norm for you," she shot back, trying to keep her tone even and tempered. "What does it even have to do with what you were talking about before?"

"Have you even apologized, yet? You clearly regret dragging my Starlight right down with you. You've already established yourself as the stubborn problem child, Twilight." White Diamond came off like a stereotypical mother who didn't bother hiding her blatant favoritism for one child over the other. "I would appreciate you not dragging your sibling down to your level. After all, Pink 2.0 is a _natural_ born Diamond; not some byproduct of experimentation."

Chartreuse looked to Pink 2.0 with very apologetic eyes; she hoped he knew she deeply regretted her actions before, but again, she wasn't going to properly do this with White Diamond present. She turned to glare at the giant Diamond before her. "I'll apologize when you're not around," Chartreuse adamantly declared. "And if you want to play the "Pink is more of a Diamond than you" card, may I remind you that Pink 2.0 is a _hybrid?_ One of a Diamond and an _organic_ , no less. Oh, but _I'm_ the freak who came from an experiment, huh?"

White Diamond abruptly closed in on the mouthy Diamond; her face just a few feet away from Chartreuse. That would never stop being terrifying.

"I see you've still not learned when to stop running your mouth, Chartreuse." Not being called Twilight now probably meant Chartreuse was wearing White Diamond's patience very thin, as she spoke with such energy that implied she wanted to beat Chartreuse into submission again. "And clearly, you were somehow able to access that rotten part of you I took the trouble to cut away…"

"What, you mean my ability to say _no_ to you?" Chartreuse smugly shot back. "Yeah, that's just the _worst_. Can't imagine a worse trait to possibly have. If only I was a psychotic mass-murderer with multiple acts of planet-wide genocide on my record; then I'd be _much_ more respectable." It bothered her that Pink 2.0 hadn't said a word since his awakening, but Chartreuse wasn't in a position to push the matter right now. She only hoped it this was nothing more than Steven still being in shock, much like she was when she first ascended.

White Diamond's patience wore thinner. "It's nothing more than an irrelevant detail that will soon take care of itself," she assured Chartreuse. "Because now that Pink 2.0 has fully bloomed and is in my custody, that means it's time for me to play with you as I promised." She smiled deviously at Chartreuse, prompting the latter to raise her brow.

"Oh boy, fun times with _White Diamond_." Chartreuse raised her sarcasm levels to the absolute maximum. "I can _barely_ contain my excitement, seriously. I'm willing to bet a playdate with White Diamond would make funerals feel like rock concerts!"

The Earth terminology meant White Diamond wasn't sure just how much of an insult that was, but knowing Chartreuse, White could only assume she was going for extremes. She couldn't wait to shut this mouthy child up.

"You _should_ be more excited," White insisted as she began to glow. It was impossible to tell from Chartreuse and Pink 2.0's perspective, but the gemstone on her forehead shined brightly. "We are going to play a game that has never been attempted before in all of history. For all the disrespect you've given me, Chartreuse, you should be grateful you've been part of so many brand-new events that were previously thought to be impossible."

"Yeah, because screw consent, right?" Chartreuse quipped. "Get bent, White. You've been boring me for a while now."

White Diamond grinned. "Then I will liven up your play time; at least _try_ to cooperate, for once."

Chartreuse was already bored enough to turn her attention back to Pink 2.0; he almost seemed like he was in a trance, because he hadn't moved and barely even blinked this entire time. Just as Chartreuse leaned over in an attempt to wake him up, she was shot hard with an immensely powerful tractor beam and was forcibly yanked back far away from her beloved.

"Wha– _WAIT!_ What's going on?!" Chartreuse panicked; White Diamond hadn't done this to her yet, and she couldn't will herself out of the hold. "White, what do you think you're doing?!"

White Diamond chuckled, giddy with anticipation. "We're going to see if we can make the Diamond of Miracles a reality, Twilight! The legends say it requires the proper mix of Diamond traits to work; Omniscience and Will sound like a very viable combination, wouldn't you agree?"

Now Chartreuse was visibly distressed by the implications. "Are you seriously suggesting what I think you are?! Have you _completely_ lost your mind?!"

"It does come off as hypocritical from your perspective, I'll admit," White Diamond conceded. "But it has _never_ been done before – a fusion between _two Diamonds!_ Can you imagine the power?!"

"Can you imagine all the _galaxies_ you could wipe out by trying this?!" Chartreuse shot back. "This is a reactor overload waiting to happen! You're cracked if you think I'm gonna be part of this! Steven won't, either!"

"What's really the problem?" White Diamond knowingly asked. She smirked at the helpless, imprisoned Chartreuse and locked eyes with her; her heterochromatic pupils dilated with terror. "I see… you've never fused before. You're not able to do it as a low-class Era 2. That's the real hang-up you have over this."

Chartreuse tried to ignore the pair of tears running down her plump cheeks. "Even if that was true, _and it totally isn't_ , any gem in my position would be far more freaked out that you're trying to _fuse two Diamonds_. That's just insanity! Homeworld is already on death's door; are you _trying_ to kill it as quickly as possible?!"

"I would think that's your goal, if you're so intent on resisting the fusion," White Diamond responded. "It will be better for us all if you accept your fate; your stubbornness has never gotten you anywhere."

"It's gotten me _everywhere!_ " Chartreuse argued back as she was pulled closer to White. "I would never have earned my top marks as Peridot if I didn't stubbornly cling to my objective, which back then was to out-do _all_ my kin, get Yellow Diamond's recognition, and earn a special interplanetary mission that I would lead, then I never would have achieved any of those goals! Instead, I conquered each aspect of my aspirations! My stubbornness has gotten me _everywhere!_ "

White hated when Chartreuse went on like this. It was even more aggravating when she had a valid point to make, so the former chose to ignore it and change the subject. "In this instance, your stubbornness will result in an unstable fusion that will not only obliterate this planet, but everyone you are endeared to," she coldly told the young Diamond. The white tractor beam finally shut off, only for Chartreuse to be almost immediately bound by tendrils of white sparkling energy that pulled her even closer to the body of White Diamond. "Your actions would even shatter Pink 2.0, who I know you are having illicit relations with. I presume that is enough of a deterrent for your usual attitude?"

"M-maybe I don't believe you," Chartreuse grunted as she tried in vain to free herself. She lamented how useless her willpower was if she couldn't use it to overpower White Diamond. It felt like when this all started, she could easily break her… now it felt completely impossible. "You _are_ a notorious liar and a con-artist, you dumb Diamond! You've given me no reason to trust you; I am _not_ falling for your emotional blackmailing methods again!"

"Then you must ask yourself, is your doubt in me worth risking the lives of everyone you ever loved?" White Diamond asked in a sweet tone. "This is happening whether you want it to or not; I imagine if you truly cared for your former friends, you would be compliant just to ensure their safety with a stable fusion."

Chartreuse growled; more tears streamed down her eyes as she internally knew she was doomed to this fate. A brief look to Pink 2.0 showed he still hadn't moved from his position, and his expression was blank. He obviously wasn't conscious, but Chartreuse had no idea what was really happening to him or how to wake him up. She tried her best not to focus too hard on her awakened boyfriend; yet another fierce argument with White Diamond was in progress, after all.

"Even if a stable fusion doesn't cause the catastrophic damage it by all rights _should_ make, you're not going to use the power to anyone's benefit! You'll force me to help you shatter them with whatever powers a miracle grants!" Chartreuse was determined never to take her superior Diamond seriously ever again. Even considering becoming her ally is what made this mess to begin with. Maybe Peridot didn't believe in her friends enough to just take the simple route and run off with the Crystal Gems on the very first encounter… perhaps if she did believe, they could have pulled it off and so much of this devastation could have been avoided.

Then again, White _had_ sealed off her strongest traits by that time… Peridot, even as Chartreuse, wouldn't have been able to believe in her friends no matter how hard she wanted to. Ultimately, it always came down to the moment Peridot was tricked into letting her guard down which lacerated her neck. Or to go even further back, it came down to Peridot's inherent clumsy nature coming into play at the worst possible moment a week ago. Either way, Peridot and Chartreuse could only blame their own selves.

"We really do need to work on the trust issues between us," White replied with a chuckle. Chartreuse was just a few feet away from her glowing body. "Just think pleasant thoughts when you feel at your lowest; think of all the irreverent actions you committed with my Starlight… and even the same level of blasphemy for actions you have thought of or desired doing together… and especially reflect on the debauchery you have _attempted_ to indulge in."

Chartreuse choked out a sob almost immediately; those words hurt even more upon seeing Pink.20 – who still looked so much like Steven – as they were drawn further and further away from each other. Pink 2.0 continued witnessing the event with a vacant face.

"Steven," Chartreuse squeaked out, trying to reach out to Pink 2.0, but to no avail. "Steven, say something! _Do_ something! J-just _react_ , will you?!" Much like White, Chartreuse's willpower had a very limited effect on Steven and especially Pink 2.0, being on the same level. She couldn't make him snap out of it.

The inner Peridot realized she failed to learn her lesson from the last time she made this blunder. Once again, White Diamond shamelessly used Steven as a means of piercing her armor and disintegrated it with a simple tap. Chartreuse thought she held out well when White Diamond tried to guilt her into by reminding her of an unstable fusion's risk of harming others, but White Diamond timed playing her cards perfectly once again.

"I promise you, our dear Starlight will feel for your absence," White assured her fellow Diamond. "But it may not be the reaction you are hoping for, dear."

Chartreuse felt her backside bump against White Diamond's torso. Her time was up. She saw Pink 2.0 be encased in one of White Diamond's bubbles.

"Just making sure our darling Pink is undamaged. Would you like to reinforce the barrier, Twilight? Your love for Pink sickens me, but if you care so much…"

Chartreuse Diamond sighed and held out her hand as best she could. The white tendrils disappeared, but now she felt her body sinking into the shining White Diamond. It was a horrible, disgusting feeling, but she endured it to raise up her arm that was already partially within White's body; all that stuck out from the light was her right hand and part of her forearm. She spread out her fingers and closed it into a fist, willing the strongest lime green bubble she could muster, layered over White's bubble. Something else dropped by Pink 2.0's feet, but it was so small and insignificant that no one paid it any mind.

In her last moments before her body almost completely sunk inside, leaving only part of her head breaching from the light, Chartreuse couldn't find anything meaningful to tell Steven. He already knew she loved him, after all. And odds were that Pink 2.0 wouldn't be able to hear her, anyway. But with one last cry of defiance, Chartreuse Diamond screamed out as loud as she could.

" _ **STEVEN–!"**_

And she was gone.

* * *

The Crystal Gems had wanted to intervene so badly, but most were still worn out or to some degree injured from the previous fallout. They were grateful that Chartreuse took the time to not only free them from their bubble prisons but place them in a location where they could safely eavesdrop and form a new strategy.

But, they knew better now than to jump in to save Peridot and Steven at this point; it just wasn't going to happen, and the Crystal Gems couldn't afford to lose more able-bodied fighters at this juncture.

They also knew the White Diamond they were spying on wasn't the genuine article. She was very clever to trick them into thinking she had no more proxies to utilize, but there was no telling how many she truly had to keep up the charade. It was a safe bet to assume it was far too many for the Crystal Gems to go through. As long as they remained in the palace, the Crystal Gems would eventually be spotted and apprehended again, but no one had any idea how they would be able to escape unnoticed. They couldn't keep counting on their young Diamond friends to continuously bail them out.

When they overheard White Diamond talking about fusion between two Diamonds, everyone reacted appropriately, freaking out as quietly as they could. It was apparent they not only needed to vacate the palace, but possibly vacate the planet itself.

That's when Lion suddenly warped in discretely to everyone's surprise. As much as the Crystal Gems couldn't stand having to leave Steven and Peridot behind, there was no other choice. They just needed to have faith that their young teammates would be able to hang in there until they could return.

It wasn't easy, but all the Crystal Gems were just barely able to warp out with Lion in a single trip. They all fell off Lion after he warped back to his destination; they were still on Homeworld, but seemingly very far from the Diamond Palaces; even further off than their touchdown point. The area was a windy, colorless desert devoid of not only any trace of civilization, but life itself. There were still traces of the rain that happened earlier, as the sand was more gray than white, and it broke down in clumps whenever someone laid a hand or foot in it.

"Oh, geez! I'm glad you guys are okay!"

They had been teleported to the PeriLove, with Greg and Pumpkin there to greet the team.

"Well, we're still in one piece, but…" Connie didn't want to say it; she knew within the next minute or so, Greg would see for himself what the problem was.

"But…" Greg frowned; to him, "but"s were the worst. He examined the team and quickly looked distraught. "O-Oh, come on! _Please_ tell me you didn't lose Steven!"

"He's still alive," Garnet quickly confirmed for Steven's father. "I assure you, if he dies, we will not be far behind. He was double-barriered before we escaped, so I'm under the impression that come what may, he will survive."

Greg wanted to be angry when he heard the gems were able to escape, but not with Steven for whatever reason, but he knew in his heart they would have brought him along if they could.

"So… how much should I be worried?" he meekly asked the team. "I see you couldn't rescue Peridot, either…"

"It's okay," Lapis assured. "Worst-case scenario, we won't have time to worry before we go down with this planet. But we're going to make sure that doesn't happen; this is just a tactical retreat."

Garnet looked to Greg with sympathy. "They're both doing better than you think," she assured him. "They've ascended to become so much more than they were before; despite the current situation, we may need _them_ to save _us_ in the end."

"I guess I wouldn't mind that," Greg conceded, though he would never be able to completely quell his worries. "I already figured Homeworld's gone to pot; I've had to find another spot to land the ship like 16 times since you guys left. The whole place is crumbling! I'm glad you all made sure I knew how to actually fly our PeriLove here; if I didn't, I'm pretty sure it would've fallen into a core or the depths of space.

"We're glad you've been stayin' safe this whole time," Bismuth commended. "Couldn't have been easy, I bet."

Suddenly, a frustrated groan disrupted the peace as everyone looked to Pearl.

"I _just_ realized all that trouble Steven and I went through to get White Diamond's essence was all a waste of time!" she shouted as she pulled out her syringe. "Everything we extracted came from a proxy made of pallid gems!" She stomped her foot in frustration. "Just _great!_ And fat chance of us getting an opportunity to pull off _that_ stunt again!"

Just as Pearl was about to snap the syringe across her knee, Garnet grabbed an arm firmly to interfere. "I know this is a substance we don't need, but you shouldn't waste it, Pearl," the Crystal Gems leader urged. "This is the essence of gems we could not save; they deserve better than this. And you never know; this substance might come in handy for a future mission." She planted both hands on Pearl's shoulders to get her full attention. "Listen, I fully understand your frustration; we've suffered many sudden setbacks and our future is very uncertain right now. But you cannot let despair keep you from trying again. I will never ask you to risk your life to succeed on your next attempt, Pearl, but should an opening present itself and you're certain you can take advantage of it, I urge you to try again. Don't be so discouraged to think there's no point in trying again."

Pearl sniffled a bit, trying to stifle her tears. She really did appreciate Garnet consoling her at a time like this. "What if there are no more opportunities? What will we do if I ultimately fail to get a sample…?"

"Then we'll find another way," Bismuth cut in, patting Pearl's back. "This "Diamond of Miracles" talk is makin' me think there might be solutions to so many of our problems out there that we don't even know about and won't find out about until we try. You know Steven's not gonna give up on this, anyway. If we don't get a sample, he's gonna feel responsible."

Pearl smiled and nodded to both of her close friends. "Right, of course… thank you. I needed that." She took out a bottle from her gemstone and unloaded the syringe before capping the bottle and storing it back inside, along with the now-empty syringe. "I suppose it is a minor concern compared to the problem of how we'll ever find the real White Diamond. She could have hundreds of proxies stored away and we'd be none the wiser. There doesn't seem to be any tells on how to identify a fake, either."

"Actually, I think White-Di just screwed herself out of that advantage," Amethyst said in a smug, knowing tone. "If she can actually fuse with Trucy, she's gonna not only make history, but make herself stand out over alllll those White-Di clones she went through the trouble of making!"

Connie nodded. "I was wondering about that, myself. Has there really never been a time until now that two Diamonds fused?"

"To my knowledge, no," Pearl piped in. "As someone who worked directly with Pink Diamond and became acquainted with Yellow and Blue on a professional level, the matter of fusion between Diamonds was never talked about and I never saw anything that hinted it could even be attempted." She sighed. "And as curious as Rose was when she was Pink Diamond, I feel like that's something she would have asked me about in the thousands of years we had been together…"

"So it's sort of like how White Diamond herself was a forbidden topic of discussion on Homeworld, only even more so because none of us have ever thought about it before," Lapis surmised. "Sounds like the Diamonds' best-kept secret yet."

"I presume the Diamonds were very hesitant to attempt it," Garnet mused. "It does sound like a phenomenon that would sooner obliterate a planet from a power overload than produce a fusion like the gems below them can, or even a Diamond with an ordinary gem. Most gems are easily replaceable in the Diamonds' eyes, but the Diamond Authority itself could never risk losing any of the four founders. I don't know what would make White Diamond want to try it now, but–"

The fusion was cut off by a booming, distant explosion that filled the air with visible carnage. The entire planet shook as well, not unlike an earthquake. Shortly after, a thick ring of pale green energy soared across the sky, knocking everyone off their feet as it passed by several miles above their heads.

It wasn't long before another ring of energy was on the horizon.

"Everyone, take cover inside the ship!" Garnet ordered. The PeriLove wasn't the sturdiest space vessel in the universe, but it was much more preferable to endure a force like that rather than standing outside helplessly. No one wasted any time boarding their ship and braced themselves as the next colored energy wave swept through the area. The ship shuddered and rocked, but everyone inside remained safe.

"So the best-case scenario right now is that the fusion was a success," Pearl muttered. "And based on what we're seeing, that seems to be the case. While it terrifies me to think what a double-diamond fusion could do to us, I feel like we need to split the teams while we have the chance. We need some people to take this chance and wipe out as many of her proxies as they can, if not all of them. So then, when we finally disrupt the fusion and force White Diamond to revert back to her true self, she won't be able to hide any longer."

Garnet smiled. "You are a very good strategist, Pearl," she commended. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

"That was awesome, Pearl," Connie remarked as she gave Pearl a hug. "So, we just need to decide who takes out the proxies and who stays to face this new fusion…"

"I'll take care of the proxies," Lapis and Bismuth said in unison before being startled and looking to each other in shock.

"You mean, your _fusion_ will take care of the proxies," Garnet amended slyly. "You two have been waiting a very long time to show us what you two can do united; I believe this is finally your moment."

Pearl pondered for a bit before speaking up. "If I'm going to try and draw out her essence again, that puts me in the team that fights the fusion by default."

"Don't ask why, but I'm thinkin' the way we might be able to break the fusion is to reach out to Trucy… or P-Dot; whichever," Amethyst hypothesized. "And the best way to do that is for the friends closest to her to reach out. Since Laps is gonna be busy with the proxies, I should face the fusion. Worse comes to worst, Opal can keep us alive long enough until we regroup."

"I should face the fusion, too," Connie decided. "Steven's gonna be in the area, though we don't know what he's gonna do, _if_ he does anything at all. If we can rescue Steven, he could be a major game-changer for us in a lot of different ways. I hope I can reach out to Peridot, too."

"–Wait, you're saying Peridot is inside that fusion?!" Poor Greg was left out of the loop.

Garnet nodded to Greg. "We'll tell you the whole story another time." She looked to her teammates. "I suppose I should accompany Lapis and Bismuth to balance this team somewhat. I suspect our job will be much quicker to accomplish, especially with two fusions on clean-up duty. We'll rejoin you as soon as we make sure White Diamond has no more puppets to use against us."

"Sounds like a plan," Lapis agreed with relief before noticing Pumpkin very shyly nudging her ankle. "–Oh, Pumpkin…" She lifted Peridot's beloved pet up and held it. "You miss her too, huh?"

Pumpkin whined; she had been pretty miserable since last week for obvious reasons.

"It's like she knows just how bad things are out there now," Greg sadly mused as he looked out the windows. With every passing second, Homeworld visibly decayed more and more. Another pale green ring of energy was released before the glowing on the other end of the planet finally died down. "So, be straight with me: how much longer until Homeworld is just _gone?_ It's getting harder and harder to find safe landing spots."

"Honestly, Greg, at this point it might be safer for you to wait just outside the planet's orbit," Pearl mused. "At the very least, you may have to just fly around; I'm certain today will be Homeworld's last. I can't say in how many hours, but… we can safely assume it's less than 24."

Garnet nodded in agreement. "If you remain in the atmosphere, you may be a lifesaver in being able to quickly pick us up once all objectives are achieved." She stood up. "That's as much planning that we can do, given what we know. It's time to see this fusion and clean up this mess."

"Thank you so much for getting us out of there, Lion," said Connie as she hugged the pink feline and patted his head. "I don't know how we would've been able to get out of that palace… you came at the right time."

"I knew Lion would get us out of a tight spot eventually," Garnet told her. "I just wasn't sure which scenario it would ultimately be. This was the best one by far, though.

"You ready for just a couple more leaps?" Amethyst asked Lion playfully. "I'll buy you lunch for a year…"

Lion snorted in response.

"Okay, okay!" Amethyst grumbled as she rolled her eyes. "A king-sized bed it is." Lion became much more compliant on the spot, inviting everyone to take a spot.

"You know he'll hold you to that," Pearl told Amethyst warily. "He clearly values a comfy bed to be taking _all_ of us at once."

"Meh." Amethyst waved her hand dismissively. "I'm _almost_ totally sure there's one in my room… somewhere. It'll be a cool scavenger hunt."

Lapis hugged Pumpkin before putting her down on the floor. Pumpkin was always _way_ more Peridot's charge than hers, but she did have a soft spot for her. She was willing to halt her own fleeing for the Moon until she found Pumpkin, after all…

"It'll be okay, Pumpkin," Lapis assured her former pet. "The next time you see us, Mommy's gonna be there for you; you have no idea how happy she'll be to see you again."

That prompted a few stares from some of the Crystal Gems.

"What?" she asked, confused. "Have you _seen_ how Peridot acts around her? She's like the mushiest, cringe-worthy mom ever; even more so than the ones I've seen on TV."

Greg laughed out loud at that. "That's what I tried to tell Peridot herself on the very first night! She was either in major denial or just didn't get what I was telling her!"

A sudden violent shaking of the earth below disrupted the moment. Everyone sobered down and remembered just where Peridot was right now.

"Break time is over," Garnet calmly announced. "Let's get back to work."

* * *

"You may call me Celadon Diamond: The Diamond of Miracles, Starli–Pink–Steven 2.0…! Oh, dear…"

Pink 2.0 frowned. "I'd prefer you to call me Steven, but I've got a feeling that's not happening. Looks like your fusion's already not that stable."

"I assure you, all is well," Celadon Diamond calmly replied. "My lesser half seems oddly triggered by that detail for some reason…" Pink 2.0 wasn't surprised; Peridot was very adamant about her distaste for anyone mistaking him for his mother and treating them like they were the same entity. "But that's not nearly enough to override the euphoria she is now experiencing. She thought she didn't want it; now the little scamp can't live without it."

Pink 2.0 didn't like what Celadon was implying. "Wait… what are you talking about? Is Peridot _brainwashed_ in there?!"

"No brainwashing was necessary," Celadon honestly replied. "But she finally understands something she couldn't for the life of her comprehend on her own. Something that _**you failed**_ to help her understand." She smirked when Pink 2.0 covered his mouth and recoiled, both in shock and shame. "You made her feel like the most defective gem in history, Pink."

"I have no idea why it kept failing!" Pink 2.0 cried out. "I thought maybe the conditions weren't right; we're so freaked out because we're on this dangerous mission even when we're somewhere safe! And I made it a point to tell her it wasn't her fault; it was probably mine! I still think it's my fault! Don't let her think the other way around, Celadon!"

"By this point, she doesn't care," Celadon told him. "Because she achieved it with _someone_. Even if it is the one she hates more than anyone else in the universe, Peridot can finally say she was able to fuse with _somebody_. Her fears are finally put to rest, and the credit goes to White Diamond and myself. So, if you're under any illusion that this fusion is not long-lived or unstable, prepare to be disappointed. Peridot rather likes it in here."

Pink 2.0 didn't want to believe that. He really, really, didn't want to believe Celadon… but she wasn't wrong about how hard Peridot took it when on two separate occasions, she failed to fuse with Steven.

It would seem to start; the two would turn into energy and begin to mix, but within seconds it destabilizes, breaks up, and repels the two would-be fusion partners. Each time, Peridot was brought to tears; completely inconsolable. Steven couldn't convince her that it wasn't entirely her fault; after all, Steven wasn't the one who was incapable of fusing with anybody.

"Do you really think she loves being part of you more than she loves me?" Pink 2.0 challenged the fusion. He had no idea what Celadon was capable of, but he could tell White by far was the dominant personality, so it was reasonable to expect only terrible things to happen from her.

Celadon giggled at that question. "With me, she doesn't have to choose between us; she can fantasize about her little "Steven" all she wants. She can do everything with you that she's too afraid to ask of you in real life." It was then that Pink 2.0 remembered meeting that idealized version of Steven that Peridot created. There were hardly any differences at all; it would have been nigh on impossible for Peridot to tell them apart if she was tasked to do so. The young Diamond started to feel the despair; the very real possibility that he might have lost Peridot permanently to White Diamond.

"Try not to be sad," Celadon advised him. "I honestly did you a favor; that low-class little brat is quite the closet deviant, and a thirsty one at that. She would have completely ruined you, Pink."

That didn't help Pink 2.0 calm down in the least. "Are you even really the Diamond of Miracles?! I haven't seen you perform one miracle yet! Right now you're just the Diamond of Pissing Me Off!"

Celadon continued to smile at Pink 2.0; she wondered when he would bring that up. "I suppose I should exercise these powers of mine, but I'm fairly certain you and I have different ideas of what a "miracle" is."

"Try bringing Yellow and Blue back to life," Pink 2.0 muttered. "No one's ever been able to be revived from a shattering before.. and you went way beyond that."

"Oh, _please_. That's a grievous waste of my powers." Celadon scoffed at her fellow Diamond. "Hm, what does my lesser half consider miraculous…" Her eyes lit up. "Ah, so _that's_ what caused the crust of Homeworld to crumble… and that was indeed Chartreuse's doing. Her motive was… aw, that's _precious_."

Pink 2.0 frowned. "I already know why she did that; she learned a lot of farming techniques on Earth as Peridot, so she wanted to see if she could bring life back here instead of taking away from it. She didn't realize this planet was too far gone to save at the time."

"I see." Celadon looked delighted. "I'll admit, I'd like to see something like this happen if only to see what it's like. I can just will it away if I don't like it, after all."

"Then go ahead," Pink 2.0 urged. "Go out there and see if you can grow something outside. Let me know when you do that and I'll see for myself."

Celadon narrowed her eyes at the smaller Diamond. "Did you just give me an _order?_ "

"Nope, I gave you a dare," Pink 2.0 corrected. "If you don't take the dare, you just proved you're too afraid to admit you were wrong about being the Diamond of Miracles. I'm not just gonna take your word for it, Celadon. If I just called myself the Diamond of Life without having anything to show for it, wouldn't _you_ want me to prove I am what I say I am?

It appeared Celadon did have _some_ distinctive Peridot traits; she could show her true emotions much more readily than White Diamond, she was quicker than White to let something get under her skin, and evidently, she did want to back up her boasts as well.

"Very well," Celadon conceded with a huff. "I will not be gone long, so don't get any ideas about freeing your friends while I'm out."

The large Diamond actually left her own palace to attempt Pink 2.0's dare. As soon as she was gone, Pink 2.0's form could finally revert to Steven. He still had a permanent growth spurt to contend with, but this was still several times preferable to what he'd endured for quite some time now.

Of course, despite Celadon's warning, Steven's first instinct was to look to his friends still trapped in their bubbles. He wasn't really conscious when Chartreuse switched them out for holograms, therefore he wasn't aware that the other Crystal Gems had already escaped. Still, considering none of them had moved since Steven first noticed them a while ago, shortly after Celadon Diamond formed, he did find that suspicious.

As he got up to his feet and started to move to the bubble prisons, he heard his foot kick something light across the floor. Steven found it was a very neatly-folded note. Seeing anything on Homeworld made of paper was highly suspect, of course, so the hybrid was quick to pick it up and read the contents.

"Steven: I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to fight back," he recited in a sad mumble. "I swore I wouldn't betray you all again, but here we are. Assuming you're still alive if this fusion is a success, you need to prioritize ending it – whatever it's called – by any means necessary. White Diamond will do everything she can to keep us bound together, and you don't have enough time to risk your life saving me yet again. I want no part of this, so I'm keeping out of it as much as I can. I know you're going to be a stubborn human infant about it, but **just shatter us**. Both our individual gemstones are on our foreheads, so it'll be almost impossible for you to take out White exclusively. If you want to save our friends and take out this menace, you need to stop being so selfish and learn to respect a sacrifice for once in your life. I'll always love you, but it's time to set our love aside and do the right thing… even if it looks and feels wrong." Steven teared up. "I'm sorry I can't come back with you. For a while, I thought I'd really be able to. I wish I could, but we can't… always get what we want."

Steven shuddered as he read those words out loud. That brought him right back to that moment on the veranda where Peridot had to snap him out of it.

"This isn't just any fusion, Steven. This is a fusion the likes no one has ever seen before, and we were already easily defeated by White Diamond. Don't be a stupid idiot about this; you're not going to be any more successful fighting off two at once. Retreat if you must; I have no idea how you're even going to pull off shattering us, but it has to be easier than going through the trouble of destabilizing the fusion. I… I know how you feel about shattering anybody, but look at the situation objectively. If you don't shatter us, we will shatter your friends. Is it really worth the price of your friends' lives to maintain your status as a pacifist? I hate asking this of you; I know this feels like an impossible choice. That's why I'm making it easier for you, Steven, by giving you my consent to take my life if that's what is required to save you all. You have no excuse to feel conflicted over this; it's a simple choice. If you're still having trouble making it, it's your own fault. Please don't sacrifice our friends and family for your ideals."

Steven sniffled; tears had been streaming down his face for a while at this point, but he was nearing the end. "If you keep on like this, insisting that you want everything, you'll end up with nothing. You know what you have to do, Steven. You'll be the last Diamond in existence, and Earth just received a lot of new immigrants from Homeworld. They'll need your guidance just as I did; you've got a busy life ahead of you. It's time to grow up. Sincerest regards, your loving center of gravity… Peridot…"

There was a small note below the sign-off; it was the only reason Steven didn't completely break down yet, but seeing a little green alien head on the edge of the page didn't help him keep it together at all. "PS: Your friends should be coming to your rescue soon. I replaced them with holograms in their bubbles, so don't despair. You're not alone, and I love you. Farewell…"

That at least saved Steven time from examining what looked like his imprisoned friends in the silver bubbles. Instead, he used that time to fall to his knees and sob.

He couldn't do this; Steven was convinced he's incapable of following through with Peridot's request. But he didn't really take into consideration some of the details of the current situation: even united, the Crystal Gems were defeated by White Diamond. Now White Diamond's power has become astronomical as Celadon Diamond, with the added bonus of having Peridot as a permanent hostage.

The one point that stuck with Steven that he had no way of proving – but could _feel_ it – was the "Diamond of Miracles". Steven had just learned of the myth, and despite having just the bare minimum of knowledge on it, he could strongly feel Celadon was _not_ the Diamond of Miracles. He understood that was what the fourth diamond on the new insignia represented now, and while Celadon was a muted color with occasional shimmers of all colors just like how it was represented on the logo, it just didn't feel right.

If the Diamond of Miracles _was_ more than just a myth and could only be achieved with a double-diamond fusion, Steven deduced it had to be another combination of the three. That narrowed it down to Pink and White, or Pink and Chartreuse. It couldn't have involved Yellow or Blue; White wouldn't have destroyed them without hesitation had that been case. Hopefully it wasn't a _triple_ -diamond fusion; even Steven was fairly certain that would tear the fabric of space.

Given the ever-rising stakes of this mission, with Peridot being very clear about the futility of pacifying a double-diamond fusion, as well as being reminded that Homeworld's very existence was on borrowed time… Steven could only conclude that it would take a miracle to save everybody. Peridot, his friends, himself… and _possibly_ White Diamond. And though it was REALLY stretching the premise, Steven thought perhaps a miracle could save Homeworld as well. No practical method would work at this point.

But it came down to this: Steven banked on a miracle to complete this mission. His tears dried as he rose up; his expression hardened as he thought carefully on this matter. White Diamond clearly _wanted_ to become the Diamond of Miracles, or bring the Diamond of Miracles about. If Celadon wasn't the right fusion, and Steven was dead certain she wasn't (it wouldn't be taking her this long to miraculously grow something outside from the decaying earth), White wouldn't want to stay as Celadon forever. No, she would relentlessly experiment until she got the combination right. And Steven knew she wouldn't put himself and Peridot together unless she absolutely had to. Either way, by process of elimination, Steven himself was conclusively 50% of this mythical being.

However… Steven wondered if it _could_ be done with his girlfriend. They were both Diamonds now, sure, but she had already ascended as one both times they tried to fuse; it shouldn't have mattered which form she was in. Steven wasn't fully awakened in either occasion as well. He couldn't wrap his head around why they couldn't fuse – it was a mystery. Sadly, one that he couldn't share to his friends, as he could tell from Peridot's behavior after the fact that she didn't want anyone knowing about her defect. Even as a Diamond, Peridot couldn't fuse… until now. But that was a forced fusion, Steven remembered.

He needed to come clean about this; this was not the time to hide away details that might become crucial to their survival down the road. A little aura trip would be necessary to see just how "impossible" it was to reach Peridot – although it was risky doing that when she was absorbed into a fusion. Anything he told Peridot would be the same as telling White Diamond herself. But Steven had a feeling Peridot disregarded the Diamond of Miracles factor when she made that note to Steven; not surprising, considering the cynical mindset of the notorious objectivist. But this was something she needed to be made aware of before surrendering herself to a grim fate.

Then Steven stumbled a bit as he started to walk again; all at once, he felt the aural presences of all his friends very close by. He smiled; the spontaneity of their arrival must have been via Lion. It would explain how they all escaped the palace as well. Steven was glad his flaky feline friend could still be counted on at times like this. Just as he attempted to find some other way out of the palace (going out the front gate would have him run straight into Celadon, of course), the wall nearby him sustained a sudden diagonal slice. Seconds later, the crystal material the palace was built of rapidly eroded, leaving larger gaps and breaking down the crystal as it seeped down like a liquid.

A few slices later, a large chunk of the wall had nearly disintegrated, and Steven was faced with a gem he had never seen before on the outside – yet she looked _highly_ familiar.

"Holy– _Steven?!_ No _way!_ This is a trick, right? No freaking way did I just find you after getting here just a minute ago!"

Steven smiled at his rescuer – a rather tall one, though there definitely had been taller fusions he'd seen already. She was taller than Opal, but shorter than Sugilite. Her skin was a dark, muted navy; she wore a metal headband styled similarly to a Viking helmet over her wavy bob-cut hair. That was also predominately blue; a few shades lighter but just as muted in tone as their skin, but it was very attention-grabbing with its many streaks of more saturated blue of many different hues: baby blue, cyan, royal blue, turquoise, sky blue, and so on. It was like a blue rainbow. She was suited with armor, though not thoroughly so. A light blue low-cut crop top with dark star-shaped accents was partially covered by a simple dark steel chestplate that didn't go past her chest, matching gauntlets on each forearm, very small side plates over her hips and kneepads was all the covering she apparently needed, topped off with royal blue combat boots. The clothing underneath seemed contradictory to the purpose of the armor, honestly. Besides her top, she wore very puffy pants with a camouflage pattern, mostly consisting of many shades of blue, primarily dark and bold varieties. Her arms were quite muscular, and in the back, Steven could see wings made out of what looked like liquid steel – it was hard to tell – and while many fusions had four arms opposed to two, this one had two sets of wings instead, with the other pair being better identifiable as being made of water.

"Lapis! Bismuth!" Steven called out with overwhelming joy, it nearly made him cry again. He approached the fusion who smiled down on him; she bore Bismuth's eyes, but Lapis' nose and mouth. The head shape seemed like a mix between the two, but shared more traits with Lapis' type. Bismuth's blue-hued rainbow gem was still at the top of her chest; it was assumed Lapis' was on her back as it should be. "Oh geez, you have no idea how glad I am to see you! Your fusion came at just the right time!" He hugged the leg of the fusion before looking up to face her. "Oh, I guess you have another name now."

The fusion bent down and gently patted Steven on the head with a single finger as she smirked. "Call me Moonstone. Steven, is that really you? We were sure White – or whatever she's called now – wouldn't dare leave you out of her sight."

"It's Celadon Diamond now," Steven sadly confirmed, but soon resumed smiling to his new fusion friend. "And yeah, it really is me! Uh, do you guys have any idea what's going on? One second Peri's next to me, the next she's been forced to fuse with White Diamond… and I only just found out you guys escaped because Peri left me a really sad note… I guess before she was absorbed into White."

"Peridot left a note?!" Moonstone bent down and looked pleadingly to Steven. "Let me see."

Steven nodded and handed it over. "It's aimed at me, but she left behind some important information in there…"

It didn't take Moonstone long to become seething levels of pissed as she read the message. "She never passes up the chance to be a little diva, does she? Dot seriously expects us to shatter her after everything we've been through…"

"I think the others need to know not to aim for Celadon's forehead, though," Steven brought up. "Also, I don't think Peri's taken this Diamond of Miracles thing too seriously."

"We all overheard that talk," Moonstone told Steven. "It sounds hokey, so I'm not surprised Peridot didn't put much stock in it."

"Yeah, but White takes it completely seriously," Steven pointed out. "Based on what Celadon said, it sounds like the Diamond of Miracles has to be a double-diamond fusion. And it's _not_ Celadon."

Moonstone was perplexed. "And how are you so sure?"

"I just dared her to make a miracle: make something grow on this dying planet," Steven replied with a cheeky grin. "It still hasn't happened, or else she'd be shoving it in my face right now. So, there's only a couple other combinations that can make a Diamond of Miracles…"

Moonstone understood Steven's angle then and there. "So, it's either… White and you, or _Peri_ and you…"

"Which is why, contrary to what she's claiming in her note, there's no way White's gonna keep the Celadon form for long, 'cause she's aiming to find that Miracle Diamond!" Steven was overjoyed just to say this; hearing it out loud, even from himself, made it feel more real; that all hope was not yet lost. "That means we won't have to shatter Peridot at all!"

"Hm, she might stick to that form as long as the others are fighting her," Moonstone realized. "Then again, that's not a bad thing. We split into two teams, Steven; half of the team is engaging Celadon right now. I'm in the other team; as long as White is Celadon, that makes her proxy clones worthless, so we're going to dispatch as many as we can, if not all of them. So, however the Celadon fusion gets broken up, White won't be able to hide from us any longer. We'll finally be able to put this to rest."

Steven hadn't thought of the issue of the proxies at all. "That's great! Man, I'm so glad you all came back. I went totally blank after all that "awakening" stuff. I feel awful that I couldn't save Peridot. Celadon sounded really sure of herself that she'd be unreachable…"

"This could have been avoided if either of you tried to reach out to me," Garnet said coldly, having caught up with her teammate. She just seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Or any of us, honestly. I thought you learned by now, Steven, that communication is key with your friends."

"G-Garnet!" Steven didn't expect to see her; he'd sooner think she was leading the charge against the pure Diamond fusion. "What are you talking about…?"

Moonstone wasn't surprised Garnet had shown up, of course. "Ah, that's right. Steven, whatever funk Peridot was in during our last battle, you had something to do with it, didn't you?"

Steven froze up, now fully worried. He had thought this friends would have gotten over Peridot's strange attitude by this point; with the conversation with Celadon fresh in his mind, this was the last topic he wanted to get into. But he knew he should have at least tried to tell someone else. "Wh… what makes you say that?"

"Steven, this is _not_ the time to play coy," Garnet said through clenched teeth, now even grimmer. "While you were unconscious, Peridot did well deflecting White Diamond's taunts. It wasn't until White pointed out that Peridot had never fused before that she began to falter… and ultimately failed to resist the forced fusion with White Diamond, which by all rights she should have been able to do."

Moonstone was just as cross with Steven. "Peridot seemed just fine after she made amends as Chartreuse and fessed up to her role in this mess. Then we give you and her some private time, so all the gems still left on Homeworld could be saved and taken to Earth… which I'm sure didn't take nearly _half an hour_ to do," the fusion muttered lowly; eyes narrowed.

"And upon your return, Peridot has a major attitude problem and you're nowhere nearby, barely even speaking to her," Garnet continued. "The few times you do, we could all tell there was tension. This persisted all throughout the battle with the false White Diamond. And then White spoke to her on a matter I believe my fellow fusion can describe better than I can; both of them fully witnessed your behaviors while I was on the frontlines."

"Oh, _that's_ right," Moonstone agreed. Steven began to shiver; he could feel Lapis and Bismuth simultaneously looking down on him, and it was very cold. "Peri was obsessed with taking a blade to White Diamond's neck; it's not hard to see why she'd feel that way after what she showed us. You, as Stevonnie, saw what Peri was doing and knew she needed to stop; it wasn't healthy behavior and it wasn't making enough of a difference in the battle to justify leaving her alone. But you and Connie weren't on the same page; you weren't your usual self, Steven, because you barely even tried talking her down. Connie called you out on it, your fusion broke, and you owned up to your hypocrisy, but then said you didn't even care. I thought Connie might've been reaching a bit when she claimed you wanted Peridot to chop up White's neck, but then you started to pink it up and when Peridot invited you to join her, you took her up on it! You both went after her neck together and didn't stop until White counterattacked and nearly shattered Alexandrite!"

Steven was afraid she was going to bring that up. He wanted to forget it ever happened… that had to have been very close to the top of the list of stupidest and/or most terrible things he'd ever done in his life.

"White accused Peridot of being a toxic gem who infected you with her hatred," Garnet pointed out. "That was another point of weakness she preyed on relentlessly once she exposed it."

"It's not that we don't understand why _you_ went along with it," Moonstone was quick to explain. "While you were tuckered out, Peridot explained to us the details of your growth spurt and all the other weird things that… seeing a moment like that on loop for so long would induce. She felt awful about indirectly causing your growth spurt, but we know it was necessary for you to see it. There was no way to avoid what would happen to you." The fusion was fairly sympathetic until this point; then her tone grew ominous and unforgiving again. "That being said, we never thought we'd see the day you'd be _bloodthirsty_ just like she was, Steven. In any other circumstance, I think you would've been able to look past your mutual trauma and talked Peridot down the way you do with anyone you shared a mutual grudge with. You're the one who's supposed to be the pacifist, so what was different about _this_ time in particular?"

"And why was it that you two barely had a thing to do with one another until that point after you two returned from your time alone? Why were you so quiet, while Peridot was so cold and disinterested?" Garnet backed up. "You both were capable of behaving normally after the incident Peridot described when we reunited, so you can't fall back on that excuse."

Moonstone glared daggers at Steven by this point. "We already have a pretty good idea what the reason is, but we want to hear it from _you_ : tell us what went wrong when we sent you two by yourselves to save the Homeworld gems. What else happened back there?"

The fact that the fusions were quick to point out the key moments where White could emotionally paralyze Peridot to the point of submission told Steven they definitely already knew the reason. There was no time to waste right now; especially to feign ignorance.

"… we tried to fuse," Steven confessed. He couldn't face them like his; his head bowed towards the colorless ground. "It was the second time we tried… and it had the same result as the first try. We couldn't do it."

Garnet tried her hardest to remain calm, but she was visibly shaking with anger. "As I thought. When was your first attempt?"

"Just before we all reunited in the pocket dimension… just before Chartreuse Diamond confessed to being Peridot." It pained Steven to recount any of this. "I don't know why it wouldn't work. But Peridot cried so much both times we failed. I–I tried; nothing I said to help her feel better worked! I tried to convince her it wasn't all her fault, but she wouldn't listen! All I could do was wait for Peridot to get it out of her system…"

"I'm sure you tried to take full blame for it," Moonstone correctly assumed. "Which is not only impossible, but that's an insult to her intelligence, Steven. She has no reason to believe she's faultless when _you're_ able to fuse with everybody else. Until White Diamond forced it, Peridot hasn't been able to fuse with anyone at all. Whether or not you'll admit that to yourself, at least some part of the failure is on her."

Steven heaved back an urge to cry. "Then _you_ tell me what I should've said! I was her last hope for a fusion! If I can fuse with Connie, _a human_ , why shouldn't I be able to do the same with an Era 2 gem?!" The fusions paused themselves at the "last hope" part of that statement and allowed Steven to continue. "I-if Peri couldn't fuse with me, then she'd know for sure she was completely incapable of doing it, and that's exactly how it played out! How can you console someone who's found out they're totally out of options?! Neither of us knows what went wrong…"

"Which is why you should have consulted me," Garnet pointed out. "You know I specialize in this, Steven. I could have found a solution…"

"We didn't have _time!_ " Steven yelled back. "Both attempts were on this mission! We had more important stuff to work out and Homeworld's gonna fall apart soon! Besides…" His tone softened. "Do you really think Peridot could handle admitting to anyone else that she couldn't fuse? This was Dot's secret to tell; not mine. She begged me _not_ to tell any of you… that she'd do it when she was ready. So, I respected her wish. She wasn't ready, Garnet! Peridot hasn't exactly had the time to move on from it."

"The thing is… s-she chose to make a big deal out of it and took her frustrations out on us; that's the problem," Moonstone countered after faltering a bit. With Steven making the details of the situation clear, it made perfect sense why went out of his way to be quiet. Obviously, Steven was internally struggling not to scream out Peridot's secret on accident. "She let this impede her judgment and put us all at risk. You need to stop justifying her stupid decisions, Steven! She's co-leading us with Garnet; Peridot needed to step up!"

Steven glared back. "She's co-leading because _somebody_ said she had to do it," he said, giving Garnet the evil eye. "And you took advantage of the fact that she felt indebted to us for coming back for her to make sure she wouldn't fight it. It's like you guys completely forgot Peridot's been trapped on this planet for almost a **week** , _by herself_ , _**and she was constantly tortured!**_ "

Moonstone and Garnet's stances faltered at this.

"What made you think it was right to throw so much responsibility on her this soon?!" Steven angrily demanded. "She wasn't _just_ tortured, you know! Peridot's life, her identity, _all_ of that… it's all totally messed up! She had to find out through _White Diamond_ that she has heterochromia; that she's a born science experiment! White's the one who forced her to be a Diamond when she didn't wanna be, and because she thought _I_ came to save her, this is officially her life now! Even if we all come out of this fine, she's gotta live with the fact that Chartreuse Diamond is part of her for the rest of her life!" Steven was breathing hard as he tried his best to contain his anger, but the more he thought about everything Peridot had gone through since they were forced to abandon her, the more awful he felt about it. " _Go on! I_ _ **dare**_ _you to tell me you can relate to that! That you know how that feels!"_

Steven finally had to break down and cry as he finished, "I-I'm the only one who even has part of a clue of what she's going through feels like… because I didn't wanna be Pink Diamond, either. B-but it's worse for her, you know?! I was _always_ Pink Diamond and just didn't know. Peridot could have just stayed Peridot if her gemstone was never messed with! She didn't _ask_ to have a piece of Yellow or White's diamond dust in her injector fluid! Out of the septillions of gems in this universe, she's the one who was forced to be what she is now. No one cared about her consent… a-and if we didn't have to leave her here last time, Peridot could've been spared _all_ of this… so just **stop it!** If anyone should be chewed out, it should be the rest of us!"

It was then that Steven noticed that in his anger, his form had shifted to Pink 2.0, and visibly stunned his friends who had only seen this form from afar until now. "In… In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been all that well in sanity department, either," Pink 2.0 admitted in a low, but very soft and gentle tone. "Seeing Peridot and her neck and the blade… play over and over again, I don't think I've been right in the head since then. Now White "awakened" me and I've gotta live with this form being part of me till the end of time… it really sucks, you know? The two of us are just kids; you _know_ that, Garnet… White forced us to artificially grow up. You noticed Peri got taller too, right?"

"Of course." Garnet regretted ever bringing this up, now. She didn't foresee the conversation making a turn like this. "Steven, I… apologize. It was inconsiderate of me to put a leader's burden on Peridot so soon; I will not dispute that."

"We're sorry too," Moonstone apologized on Bismuth and Lapis' behalf. "We have been forgetting how long Peridot's had to suffer before we got here. She's so determined to hide her weaknesses, that… in a situation like this, it's easy to forget she still has a lot of inner trauma and topics she's sensitive about. She wants us to believe she's a wall we can't knock down, but…"

Pink 2.0 sniffled. "As long as she loves me, there's always gonna be a crack in that wall. Both times she surrendered to White Diamond, it's because she used me to let her guard down… or find a weak point."

"Steven, you listen here," Moonstone insisted in a boldness that suggested this was the Bismuth part of her talking. "Don't talk like Peri's love for you is a detriment; she pushed herself for _days_ trying to be a responsible leader even though she was beside herself with worry about you. But keeping you in mind calmed her down – kept her from going off the rails. She maintained a schedule by herself and made sure we stuck to it. If she wasn't with us, we probably still wouldn't have found a way to rescue you in the first place! Peri had a whole bunch of different jobs before _and_ after we left beyond just being a "leader". She made mistakes, sure, and more than once we doubted her, but Peri made sure our team didn't completely fall apart _and_ made progress on how we were gonna find you. You saw how bad she looked when we first reunited."

Pink 2.0 bowed his head. "I ended up seeing a memory of how exactly that played out when I tried to fix Dot from the inside," he solemnly confirmed. "I feel bad that I even bothered asking her the name of that maniac who tortured her. I can understand why she went so overboard to capture Yellow Pearl. With every place Peridot revisited after all that time away, she kept regaining really bad memories of how she used to be. She hated herself more and more the longer that mission went on…"

"But she still had you fresh in her mind, so she didn't give up," Garnet finally added. "And how much did she improve as a leader once you found Steven and Connie?"

Moonstone shook her head in disbelief. "It was like night and day. Peridot was confident and _mostly_ professional, and she always had a strategy for whatever situation we were in. She kept her focus on the objective to escape Homeworld. This only started happening after we got you back, Steven… after you healed her. So don't you ever think that Peri's love for you is a detriment to her, okay? You gave her the strength to save the other Homeworld gems, didn't you?"

Pink 2.0 nodded; his eyes averted from his teammates again. "Yeah… yeah, we did pull that off. And she even managed to do that as Peridot; not Chartreuse Diamond. It gave her a big headache, though. She really wants to do as much willpower stuff in her Peri form as she can, but… it always seems to hurt her, or at least strains her body. She hates having to be Chartreuse for anything. I felt her anger when she went after White's neck…"

"Because she went in initially as Peridot, and found she couldn't even scratch White; we saw it," Moonstone confirmed. "She had a similar episode back in the workstation when she finally broke down from the assault. Poor kid's gonna need so much therapy after this…"

Garnet nodded. "We're sorry we took a harsh approach to this, Steven. But we should get to work… with you here, this job became much easier." She smiled to Moonstone briefly before addressing Pink 2.0 again. "Moonstone already told you we're clearing out the proxies while White's in her Celadon fusion; you should be able to use your powers to locate these proxies easily, as they are multiple gems forcibly melded together. We will be certain that we've dispatched her puppets with your expertise, and White Diamond will truly be our last foe standing."

Pink 2.0 finally managed to smile. "Apology accepted. I probably didn't need to be that nasty to you guys, for what it's worth. But yeah, I can track down what's left of her proxies! I'll make sure none are hiding from us."

"Finally, we catch a break!" Moonstone sighed with relief before summoning a giant scythe that emerged directly from the right hand. "And you can see what we can do, Steven. It's _really_ cool."

"I caught a preview," Pink 2.0 slyly noted. "How'd you get the wall to melt like that? The palace has to be made of some really sturdy stuff."

Moonstone smirked before striking a much larger portion of the palace wall in the blink of an eye. Pink 2.0 and Garnet watched as the slice mark grew in size as the wall, pouring with water from the gap like a bleeding wound. Said water seemed to indeed make the material it passed over melt through as if it were acid.

"I'm not exactly "melting" it," Moonstone explained. "There's no heat involved; this is the effect of erosion sped up millions of times its normal progression. All geological matter – even diamonds – will ultimately erode, largely due to water. But erosion is a very, _very_ slow process naturally. But if you've got a fusion with a water whiz and a fast-acting precision-based weapon master, you're gonna get water that _hurts_. We not only got that, but water that'll break ya down with just a touch!"

While Pink 2.0 marveled at Moonstone with starry eyes, Garnet smirked. "A power like that can wipe out a proxy in a single blow if you aim for the gemstone. I have a feeling it won't be long before we rejoin the others."

"I know for a fact White's been hiding proxies all over the walls in her little penthouse!" Moonstone exclaimed as she swiped rapidly at the palace walls, quickly creating a gaping hole in the broad side of the Diamond dwelling. Three White Diamond proxies were revealed within, and all three dissolved along with the walls they hid in in a matter of seconds.

"Looks like you don't even need to target the gemstone," Pink 2.0 observed with a smirk. "And yeah, there's definitely a lot more in there hiding around," she confirmed. "Guess we'll just have to break down White Diamond's entire house."

Moonstone flashed a wicked grin. "Darn shame."

* * *

"So, uh… where's the miracle, Donnie Diamond? I'm not seein' jack."

"It was never said that the miracle would be instantaneous!" Celadon barked back at Amethyst, as if anyone would buy that excuse. "What's that term you use on Earth?! _Something_ wasn't built in a day, I believe?!"

"Rome," Connie answered. "But there's a difference between the city of Rome and just growing a plant, you know. You're getting delusional; if you don't give us Peridot back right now, we won't hesitate to use force!" She brandished her sword, trying to look as menacing as a young preteen girl could.

Pearl was tempted to back up her friends' backtalk, but she remained quiet and firm. She needed to fully concentrate on when to spot an opening where she could siphon out White Diamond's essence, although she was hesitant to try this while she was in Celadon Diamond's form. There was no telling how Peridot's gemetic makeup could alter White's cure.

"You are the delusional one if you believe I'll just do what an _organic_ tells me to do," Celadon shot back. "I'll admit I'm surprised, though. Only half of the Crystal Gems were up to the task of fighting me? And the _lesser_ half, at that…"

"Who're you callin' a lesser half?!" Amethyst called back. "What the slag are you even good for if you can't make a miracle happen, huh?!"

Celadon narrowed her eyes. "I still have White's omniscience and Chartreuse's will; I think you'll find I'm _very_ versatile." She raised her left arm with her hand hanging down, fingers sprawled apart. Seconds later, Connie, Amethyst, and Pearl were nearly flattened as a high gravity barrier enveloped the trip. "Besides that, it still hasn't been proven that I can't perform miracles. I'm _certain_ it's in progress as we speak. A pity you won't live to see it."

Pearl grit her teeth, just barely on her elbows and knees under the immense pressure pushing her into the dead earth below. "Oh, _please_ get over yourself," she grunted. "You… wouldn't _dare_ shatter us in such a blasé manner. You'd at least wait for Steven to see it; we all know it!"

"Tch'yeah… ain't that the truth," Amethyst grumbled as she too was held down in the same manner as Pearl. "And I'm _pretty_ sure your inner P-Dot isn't gonna let you off us just like that, either."

"Y-you really shouldn't do it this way!" Connie called out as she squinted, having clung to the handle of her sword that was stuck in the ground to at least be on her hand and knees. "Th-this planet is already falling apart; i-if you want that miracle to happen, m-maybe you shouldn't destroy the planet before it takes shape!"

Celadon frowned and dissipated the gravity well. Connie had a solid, logical point she couldn't dispute. She wanted to make sure everyone knew that, too: "Let it be known that Chartreuse played no role in the mercy I just granted you sorry lot. The organic simply brought up a valid concern that I adhered to."

"For sayin' P-Dot's not control in there, you sure are talkin' like her right now," Amethyst smugly pointed out as she stood up.

"She does not need to be in control in any way, shape, or form for me to access her mannerisms," Celadon countered. "I assure you all, she is in a deep sleep right now. She's indulging in all of her fantasies – the ones she couldn't ever act on in real life – and acknowledges there is no advantage to returning to the real world where limitations are all around her life."

Connie shook her head. "I don't believe you for a second! That's not who Peridot is; you're just saying that to deter us from reaching out to her."

"Did I mention this is her first fusion?" Celadon casually brought up. "Her first time was with, of all possible choices, _White Diamond_. Isn't there some delicious irony to be found in that?"

A statement like that made the trio pause and reconsider their responses. No one looked okay with this.

"N-no way," Connie muttered. "I was so sure she had tried to fuse with Steven at least once…"

" _Tried to_ being the operative words here," Celadon pointed out. "There were two separate attempts, and both failed. I think you'll find that explains Twilight's behavior during the last phase of the battle."

Amethyst looked increasingly disturbed by this revelation. "Holy crow, _it does_ … Steven was quiet as a mouse and didn't have much to do with her until late in that battle. I think they directly spoke like, maybe _once_ , and even that was pretty stilted."

"But how did their fusion fail?" Connie asked. "Steven can fuse with _me_ ; I'm not even a gem! How is he _not_ able to fuse with Peridot?!"

"It's quite a mystery," Celadon agreed. "Something that has been tormenting your lowlife friend for quite a while. That's why you shouldn't bother trying to disrupt this fusion; Twilight is finally at peace knowing she can fuse, even if it's with her mortal enemy. She can rest easy within me and dream of Starlight as much as she wishes; you see, she's rather sick and tired of having to be considerate and selfless for your sake."

"Oh, put a lid on it!" Pearl barked out. "That's enough; we know Peridot can be a selfish little brat, but that's to be expected of a gem her age. It isn't how we identify Peridot; there's far more to her than what you imply. Being half of her, I'd imagine you know that, and _should_ know better than to believe we'd buy into your propaganda!"

Celadon was not impressed, nor was she upset by this defiance. "It's a pity she can't hear you; I'm sure this would be overcome with joy… and it still wouldn't be enough for her to break this fusion. Or perhaps she wouldn't even care… she has everything she wants right now."

"Oh, come _on_ ," Amethyst groaned as she summoned her flail. "For being half P-Dot, you sure don't know P-Dot at all, do you?!"

"If this is all you're going to offer us in a verbal conflict, we're better off speaking with our weapons!" Pearl declared as she summoned her spear.

Connie already had her sword out, so she simply did a different pose. "Don't underestimate us just because we're not all here!"

"Hm, that brings up an interesting question I have for you three," Celadon Diamond mentioned with amusement as she held out the palm of her massive hand to create a long, swirling line of diamond rope that rapidly circled around Amethyst, Connie, and Pearl before whirling about in a blur to tie them all up together; their weapons were just as restrained. "Where _are_ your other teammates? I find it quite suspect that they're not only not with you, but they opted to send the _B-Team_ to contend with me! It's an insult, honestly. What could they be doing that's more of a priority than me and the runt you went through the trouble of returning for?"

Pearl opted to stick her nose up at Celadon. "You're not qualified for such information. These lips are sealed!"

"I wouldn't betray my friends!" Connie shouted back. "Go talk to a wall!"

Celadon smirked at that statement. "What a loyal friend. My lesser half wishes she could say the same."

"Dot didn't use it when she had the chance, so I guess it's up to me…" Amethyst muttered to herself before looking Celadon in the eye. "Ah, get this rope off us and stick it up your excrement expeller where it belongs, will ya?!"

"–W-wait, why are you…? That is _not_ humorous!" Celadon, oddly enough, didn't appear to be responding to Amethyst. "We– _We don't even have those!_ Stop laughing immediately!"

Now the three Crystal Gems could see what was going on here.

"Peri's 100% asleep in there, you said?" Amethyst noted with _great_ amusement. "Wow, never thought I'd see a _Diamond_ suck this hard at putting up a farce. You sure you're the dominant half of that fusion, White-Di?"

" _Shut your mouth, you_ –" Celadon Diamond was cut off by an especially loud sound of something crumbling into rubble. Looking behind her, she saw a travesty… it was the bust made in White's image. Her dominant half's home base for untold millennia abruptly fell apart, shattering into an unrecognizable pile of white crystal shards. She was speechless, as were the Crystal Gems, though for entirely different reasons.

Connie smiled up at Celadon, wanting to get her one-liner in. "Hope you had insurance for that."

" _SHUT YOUR MOUTH!_ " Celadon screeched at her. "–by the way, that was _weak_ – I mean… _GAH!_ "

"Yep; Peri's awake and Peri's pissed," snickered Amethyst.

"I'm certain our friends had _nothing_ to do with that," Pearl assured in a tone that made it obvious she wasn't even trying to be serious. "After all, this planet _is_ falling apart. What did you think would happen to your palace, honestly?"

"I've had _enough_ ," Celadon growled at the trio. "Of ALL of you! Shut your mouths! Or would you like me to re-gift you with the method Chartreuse used to be silence you earlier?"

That got her captives to be quiet, though there was some struggle to stifle some chuckling in there. The Diamond had to ignore it for now; she needed to put her powers of omniscience to use.

"Finally," Celadon grumbled. "Let us see what my proxies have to repor–" Her eyes widened with horror. "Oh my stars, _no._ "

She was horrified by what she saw. Garnet and some gem she had never seen before were demolishing her White Diamond proxies. Pink 2.0 was with them, blatantly pointing out the locations of the proxies for her cohorts. The floor was littered with shattered pallid gem pieces – unfortunately, even a nonlethal poofing of the proxy still resulted in the unavoidable instant death of all gems part of that entity. But Pink 2.0's inner Steven was quickly learning to keep his priorities straight; he'd been told many times by now that there would be times that he wouldn't be able to save everyone. It was high time he accepted that.

It alarmed Celadon when she found out this had been going on for a while. Not seeing Lapis or Bismuth anywhere in the vicinity, her inner Peridot could identify their fusion, and was highly disturbed to see this fusion's capabilities.

When Celadon thought to count and estimate the number of proxies she still had left, she didn't see any in the area from the field of vision of the proxy she accessed. Said proxy turned in another direction only to still not find any, and one more turn was met with a sudden fusion in her face and an abrupt interruption to her vision feed… which evidently became permanent.

"By the way, you've still grown, like, _nothing_ from the ground," Amethyst spoke up. "I think you're officially not Diamond of Miracles – gonna have to ask you to revoke your title and the trophy that came with it."

Celadon responded with a high-pitched growl and nearly sounded like a scream she forced down her throat as she sent a nasty jolt of electricity through the diamond rope holding her captives. It hurt _terribly_ , but Pearl and Amethyst weren't poofed as a result of it. Celadon wouldn't allow for that; poofing was too light a punishment for what just happened.

"H-heh," Amethyst coughed out. "Worth it…"

"Those fusion abominations think they can come into _my_ home, destroy _my_ lovingly-crafted proxies, and then _destroy my home?!_ "

"Were it up to you, we 'd still be in your home, you know," Pearl pointed out.

Connie sounded annoyed. "You've killed thousands of gems to "lovingly" craft your surveillance puppets – I'd say the fusions destroyed them out of mercy."

"And by the way, dude, you **are** a fusion," Amethyst reminded the Diamond in the most obnoxious way possible.

Celadon growled and shocked them all again. "I see you three took a page out of Twilight's book for how to get the most mileage for being a valuable hostage! And that's what you all will be! We will pay them a visit this instant!"

"Don't bother, Celadon!"

A giant dark blue figure was seen in the sky, closing the distance between Celadon in a matter of seconds before making a smooth landing, greatly aided by the two sets of wings. "Hey there! Name's Moonstone," she said, extending a hand mockingly for a handshake. "Sorry, I'm the one who just evicted you for cruelty to the gems trapped in your basement. We cool?"

"We most certainly _are not!_ That. Is. ALL!" Celadon pointed to Moonstone to will away their fusion.

"Hm… I'm takin' it that you're mad, bro," Moonstone casually noted, no-selling the Diamond's will.

"H-how?! WHAT?!" Celadon was in disbelief. But she soon found an explanation the second she swiped at Moonstone and found her hand passing through liquid; the colors of Moonstone flashed away in that moment to reveal nothing but water made in Moonstone's image.

Then she felt a _very_ painful slice across her midsection. It seemed to only leave just a fine scratch, but Celadon was horrified to see the cut line at her hips start to dissolve into nothing.

"Dang, should've figured it'd take more than one hit for a Diamond," the real Moonstone grumbled from behind Celadon. "Guess I should be glad I'm damaging a double-diamond fusion at all, though, huh?"

Celadon Diamond whipped around (and regretted doing so immediately, as that brought about more pain and aggravated the erosion-based damaged already sustained) to see the real fusion, with Pink 2.0 and Garnet sitting on each of her shoulders. Just as she registered that, Celadon was immediately greeted with a second slice from Moonstone's scythe and then a third; the second hit the same area as before; the third was diagonal. It was only then the double-diamond fusion realized Moonstone wielded _two_ scythes in each hand. One slice had dissolved the diamond rope, freeing Amethyst, Pearl, and Connie.

"Aw, what a shame, huh?" Moonstone darkly chuckled at Celadon as the latter staggered. "I expected more of a fight out of an uppity upper-crust! But I guess you were too used to making the clones made out of _all those dead gems_ do all the hard work, huh? You sure let yourself go!" The fusion scored two more hits in before Celadon finally put her foot down.

" **THAT WILL BE ALL! AND THIS TIME, I MEAN** _ **ALL**_ **OF YOU!"**

This time, it couldn't be evaded: Moonstone was forcibly willed apart, sending Bismuth and Lapis crashing to the ground. Garnet was a victim of this as well; Ruby and Sapphire roughly crashed onto the dirt below, shortly followed after by Pink 2.0, who naturally forgot he could control his fall at that moment.

Celadon couldn't be bothered with the majestic pretenses a Diamond was to always follow; she was _boiling over_ with fury, which only increased the more pain she felt from Moonstone's attacks. More of her body started showing signs of chipping and cracking – not at all a good look for a Diamond to have. She winced as she stomped her foot, forming a gravity well over the entire team.

"I am history's first fusion of two Diamonds! You will all do what was already required of you for the lesser Diamonds, and **BOW BEFORE ME!** "

She was done with being the butt-end of everyone's jokes. She was done toying with her prey. It was clear even to Celadon now that she was not the Diamond of Miracles she claimed to be. She would have to break this fusion and move straight on to fusing with Pink 2.0 to try this again. The team would be at another impasse as they would still have a valued teammate and friend as a permanent hostage, and Celadon was certain a fusion between Life and Omniscience was the actual correct formula to induce miracles. If Steven and Peridot couldn't fuse, why would Pink 2.0 and Chartreuse fare any better? There could only be one solution.

But clearly, the Crystal Gems had rebounded after their defeat and were getting the jump on her; Celadon wasn't going to defuse until she had everyone neutralized so she could absorb Pink 2.0 with no interference. She grinned to see the force of gravity literally force everyone onto their hands and knees – it felt nice to construe that as bowing. But she still felt the need to blow some steam.

"It's like you all conveniently forgot what poor little Chartreuse told the lot of you from the beginning: if I desire it so, I will **shatter you on the spot.** Starlight, I've been patient and tolerant of these living _diseases_ you call "friends", but you've taken advantage of my kindness for the last time," Celadon declared; there was not a single hint of amusement or playfulness in her voice anymore. It was all business. "So help me, if _any_ of them, _or you_ , speak when you are not spoken to, **I will** **shatter every single one of them, Pink!** With Twilight and I joined together, you're the only other necessity; the rest of these fools can just go **die** for all I care. I don't need hostages at this stage! I still technically have one; your most **beloved** one at that, isn't that right, Starlight?!"

Pink 2.0 tried his hardest not to cry as he squirmed underneath the energy well.

"I won't fall for that again, Pink!" Celadon declared, looking mad in more ways than one now. "In fact, this isn't quite enough to prove my point to you, is it?! My inner Twilight's telling me you'd still fight back the first chance you got. Perhaps it's time you faced some actual **consequences** for your actions, and that will keep you in line!"

Sapphire gasped as she said that; she had just seen a very alarming impending future vision. Thankfully, she was near Pink 2.0. Not wanting to incur Celadon's wrath by speaking, she just barely managed to nudge the young Diamond and get his attention. Unfortunately, gravity being what it is, it wasn't easy to silently communicate to Pink 2.0 to look to the sky. After some failed attempts, she tried to mouth the word "up" to him, at which point he got the message and tried his best to turn his head up at the sky just in time to see a familiar green object flying high across it. Pink 2.0 knew Sapphire wouldn't have gone out of her way to have him see that for no reason. Keeping in mind the word Celadon Diamond just emphasized a few seconds ago, he _panicked_ and tried as hard as he could to send a telepathic message to his father. He mentally stumbled and tried to project the voice Greg would recognize so his father wouldn't waste valuable seconds wondering who in the world was calling him; at this point, he'd have trouble recognizing post-growth spurt Steven's voice right away without a face to it; never mind his voice as Pink Diamond 2.0.

It was mere seconds after the Diamond started his message that he was forcibly brought up from the gravity well and into Celadon's hand, where he was firmly kept. The ship had definitely come notably closer than it had been just a moment ago. Everyone else was kept down.

"This pathetic form I've taken may not be the true Diamond of Miracles, but I've gained a _vast_ wealth of knowledge from fusing with your Twilight, dear," Celadon raved. "Whether or not she wanted me to know these details matters not… it's not her decision to make."

Pink 2.0 just silently frowned at Celadon before turning his attention back to the sky. He wasn't sure if his father was receiving his telepathic message or not, since he wasn't getting a response. It could just as easily be Greg being in a hurry to follow the instructions with no time to talk as it was a bad connection. Pink 2.0 _prayed_ it was the former.

"I understand that's your paternal unit, who is responsible for your existence and especially your bizarre appearance, up in that insulting ship you call the – Loving Peridot…? Goodness, she really has poisoned you, Starlight– or should I say, _Steven?_ " Celadon flashed a wicked grin at the young Diamond as he looked over her direction again. His eyes were understandably bugged out, as no iteration of White Diamond would _willingly_ call him by his given name.

She raised up her free hand, focusing on the ship again. "Yes, in honor of your deceased paternal unit, I will call you at this moment, and _only_ this moment, Steven Universe!" Celadon announced with perverse joy mixed with simultaneous rage. "The next time you defy me, remember what could happen to your loved ones!"

Her free hand formed into a fist.

A roaring explosion from above followed.

And the PeriLove was no more.

* * *

The following moments felt much like the time Peridot tripped right as she was above to run into Steven's arms down the tunnel: everything was in slow motion.

Shortly after the explosion, the gravity well dissipated. Peri Patrol members Bismuth and Lapis didn't miss a beat: they fused into Moonstone and immediately set off into the sky in hopes of retrieving the heart of their division. Pink 2.0 let out a random burst of energy that forced open Celadon's hand, so he could freely run to the site where the PeriLove's remains would soon crash. The rest of the Crystal Gems were quick to follow him; Celadon decided to watch this play out with sick glee; like Peridot wanting her own turn to lacerate White Diamond's neck, _this_ was Celadon's way of getting some catharsis over the Crystal Gems for not taking her seriously. Even internally, she was having a good laugh over this as the Peridot within her _screamed_ to be let out. No amount of daydream indulgence would make her overlook the destruction of her space ship and murdering the father of her beloved; all of this had been done using a fusion _she_ was in. It wasn't omniscience that blew up the PeriLove; that was sheer willpower.

Celadon was enjoying herself in all sorts of ways, savoring Peridot's misery from within while watching the Crystal Gems try in vain to salvage what little they could from this tragic situation.

Pink 2.0 shifted back into Steven when, after what felt like _hours_ to him, Moonstone came back into view with Greg in her arms. Steven was worried for a second the life he was sensing in the wreckage was his father at first, but he had no more than a few seconds to dwell on that before finally meeting the fusion on land. Moonstone bent down and lowered Greg to Steven's level. There would be burns and scars later, but miraculously, Steven's father survived the ship's destruction. Steven embraced his father and sobbed; Greg was barely able to hug his son back, but he was perfectly happy to be able to do that much.

"Hey– Steven, how long've you all been _gone?_ " Greg weakly asked with amusement. "You grew like a weed…"

"Tr-try and be quiet for a sec, D-Dad," Steven pleaded through his weeping. "I'm gonna heal you up a-as soon as I calm down… y-you're not gonna die, right?"

Greg tried his best to look blasé about the whole situation. "Geez, I'd hope not. Next time you send me an evacuation order in my head, maybe don't think a mile a minute, Schtu-ball. I _barely_ understood that in time…"

"It shouldn't be anything you can't heal," Moonstone assured Steven. "He's just… understandably in shock, you know?"

"Th-thank you so much, Moonstone," Steven whimpered. "I dunno what I would've done i-if he was gone… wh-what I'd do… I-I'd…"

Moonstone shook her head. "Sapphire deserves more credit than I do; she told me exactly where Greg should be, and sure enough, she was right. Looks like she told you to warn your dad before this happened, too."

"Should've figured," Greg sighed out. "No one gets _that_ lucky without any ahead-of-time knowledge. Remind me I owe her the biggest favor ever… or Garnet; whichever one she'd rather be rewarded as."

Sapphire happened to walk over at that moment, but she was rather calm in her pace. "I'll probably be Garnet by the time we get home, Greg, so you can just treat Ruby and myself together. I think I'd like it better that way." She grabbed Steven gently by the wrist. "I don't know if it'll do any good, but… come with me. Right now."

Steven was a bit bothered that Sapphire would interrupt his moment with his father like this, but he knew it had to be for a good reason. He nodded to her and looked to Greg. "D-Dad, just sit tight; this might be important."

"What would–" Greg paused and lost his smile. "Ohh, no. No, no, no…" He looked up at the new fusion holding him. "N-nice to meet you, Moonstone. Don't take this the wrong way, but… you'd best defuse right now. Lapis, you need to go with Steven."

Moonstone was perplexed, but did as Greg asked with Bismuth taking over the Greg-handling duty.

"I'll check on you later," Lapis promised him. She did _not_ like Greg's tone... that was the most hardened and serious she'd had ever seen or heard the man since she had known him.

She kept her distance behind Sapphire and Steven, then quickened her pace as she watched Steven race towards the ship's still-burning wreckage. She covered her mouth in horror as it just came back to her seconds before Steven screamed it out.

" _PUMPKIN!"_

"Oh, lovely. I still got one," Celadon said with a satisfied smile on her face. She had been inwardly gloating to Peridot, who couldn't break free from the fusion even as she was in a panic to make sure Greg didn't die. Once it was made apparent he lived, much to Celadon's disgust, Peridot's rampant attempt to escape her prison died down. Celadon made sure to guilt-trip Peridot by reminding her she had a hand in this for conceding to the fusion to instill fear in Peridot, so she wouldn't feel the desire to be on the outside world to handle the shame and well-deserved hatred from her friends and family over this.

So now Celadon got the best of both worlds; a casualty _and_ a means to keep Peridot submissive in her fusion until the end of time.

"My, I _really_ broke your spirit this time," Celadon mused. "Not even a peep. I should've done this _ages_ ago. Though how could anyone possibly guess the key to killing off that insufferable ego and indomitable stubbornness of yours was gruesomely bisecting some sentient piece of produce?"

There was still silence. Something inside was building up, but Celadon couldn't identify it. She could visualize Peridot still motionless, staring on and looking completely broken. This feeling was completely foreign to the host.

It was a feeling neither White nor Celadon Diamond would ever understand. They were about to learn that the hard way.

In an instant, it erupted. Celadon disappeared into a mass of light, not even able to scream out any last words before White Diamond was flung away almost a mile back. Meanwhile, in the other direction, a panting and distressed Peridot ran like her life depended on it to where the other Crystal Gems were gradually congregating. She didn't want to believe it; she wanted so hard to believe she was just being baited out, but Peridot knew of all things Steven wouldn't lie about, _this_ was the first and foremost thing he would never, _ever_ speak in jest.

The tiny gem put her boyfriend's cries to shame as she continued on.

" _ **PUMPKIIIIIIIIN!"**_

* * *

A few minutes later, some of the Crystal Gems spotted Peridot dashing in the distance. Everyone had heard her cry out; it was fantastic that she finally broke free from the confines of Celadon Diamond, but… this was the heaviest price to pay for that achievement.

None of them were inclined to look on at Peridot with disdain or disgust; no one had the heart to lay into her for all the trouble she inadvertently caused. Everyone knew full well this was an act Peridot would _never_ willingly commit by her own hand. At the same time, no one knew exactly what to even say to her as she closed in.

It was soon made apparent as Peridot could see their faces, she gave them a glare that issued a single order: _get out of the way_. Everyone had crowded around the site of the tragedy, and they needed to start clearing a path; she'd bulldoze them over if she had to. The Crystal Gems on the outer rim parted when the tiny gem's expressions told them very blatantly she'd toss everyone aside if they didn't clear a path for her. They didn't know how she'd pull that off as a Peridot, but in this situation, anything was possible.

It was true Peridot easily could have willed herself to teleport immediately to her destination, but there was only a single thought running through her head that by far trounced any other feeling, thought, or idea: _please don't die._

The group parted to show the inner circle. Amethyst had been keeping Pumpkin company before Steven and Lapis rushed over; the quartz continued to sit, but scooted to give the other two some space.

To say Pumpkin was in bad shape would be a grievous understatement. She was partially trapped underneath some of the burning wreckage, which Lapis quickly put out. By the time Peridot had made it to them, the very agonized and weakened Pumpkin was still partially covered by the debris. Her first thought was why Steven, Lapis, or Amethyst didn't take that off her pet right away, but little did she know, all three already had tried. Amethyst tried to warn Lapis and Steven beforehand, and both instantly regretted not heeding their friend's warning. Lapis had tried to feed the ailing Pumpkin some of her water. She drank it, but for various reasons, Lapis abruptly stopped giving that care.

" _ **PUMPKIN!"**_ Peridot made it over and covered her mouth with both hands to see her little companion in such a dire state. She fell to her knees, briefly choking out a sob to see Pumpkin's faint joy in finally seeing her caretaker after so many days of her sudden absence. The sentient fruit managed to produce a rolling tear of sheer happiness to see Peridot in a time like this.

It was then that the detail of her being covered in the wreckage registered to the forefront of Peridot's mind as she glared at Lapis and Steven with razor-sharp gritted teeth. "You clods have some kind of mental defect?!" she barked at them as she stood up. "Get this junk off my Pumpkin _at once!_ "

"–Wait, _no!_ "

"Peridot, **don't!** "

She didn't listen, of course. In a matter of seconds, Peridot used her metal powers to not only sweep away the debris Pumpkin was trapped under, but everything else in the vicinity. She shoved it all away, hurling the ship's remains so far back across the planet, it was soon out of sight.

And she quickly realized why her friends left the garbage where it was. Celadon Diamond wasn't kidding about bisection: half of Pumpkin was _gone_. All that remained was charred remnants, mush, or burning mush. Lapis had stopped giving Pumpkin water once she felt it pour out and soak her pants; all this really did was wash away what little innards remained inside the intact part of the body.

Peridot felt _sick_. She trembled back to her knees, trembling uncontrollably as she crawled over to caress Pumpkin's face. Fresh tears streamed down her face; logic tried to convince Peridot that Pumpkin was beyond repair, but her sentiments far overpowered that aspect of her thinking.

"I'm so sorry about this," a still-weak Greg spoke up, still sustaining burn marks of his own while in Bismuth's arms. "I had her in my arms when I evacuated, but she slipped away from me as I went down. I… I think her tail got tangled in something; she was just hanging by–"

Bismuth gently shushed him; her look silently told the man he still needed to conserve his energy. And also… that this was far from the right time to bring up details like that. It only served to empower Peridot's logic that Pumpkin was beyond saving.

Peridot struggled to get the words out of her throat as she focused on Pumpkin, who she could tell was fading fast. Now that her pet got to see her loving guardian one final time, she felt much more at peace and was consequently slipping.

"N-no, _no!_ Pumpkin, don't go to sleep!" she begged. She willed it as hard as she could, but she couldn't put Pumpkin back together, nor restore her lost innards. This was beyond her means; Peridot turned to Steven, who already knew the answers to everything she'd ask of him. "St-Steven, haven't you–?!"

Steven nodded. "Peridot, this is… too much, even for me. I even went pink, thinking my saliva or any powers would be more effective, but… nothing's working. Some of the broken bits are coming together, but I can't reattach them to Pumpkin. And even I could…" He looked down past Pumpkin to the mush and burnt mess on the ground. "Too much burned away from the inside. That's something I can't replace, no matter what."

That answered multiple questions Peridot had for him at once. She was deeply shaken to hear this, but the technician wasn't giving up. "B-but you're the Diamond of _Life_ , aren't you?! Why can't you–"

"Maybe you haven't figured it out by now, Dot, but despite what they've told all of you all this time, _even Diamonds have limitations._ " Steven harshly told her. "I can't play god; sure, I revived Lars, but Lars wasn't _cut in half with his organs burned up_. Maybe you've forgotten that I've never been able to revive a shattered gem! I can't even bring Mom back to life! If I could do that, death wouldn't have any meaning! None of us would've been terrified of losing our lives this entire mission! My powers aren't even enough to _cure pallid gems_ ; and they aren't fully dead yet!"

Peridot shrunk back a bit; she wasn't used to hearing Steven talk like this _at all_ (in fact, none of the Crystal Gems were, but they knew this was warranted).

"You already tried, didn't you?" he darkly asked Peridot. " _Diamond of Will?_ You already tried to will her to live; why do you think you can't be Pumpkin's lifeline, Peridot?!"

"I-it's because I'm too inexperienced," Peridot sputtered. "You've been doing this longer than me! I-I thought you'd at least be able to–"

Steven glared at her. "You still can't see even now that was just a lie White Diamond fed to you to keep you under her control?!"

Never before had Peridot felt so dense and idiotic in her entire life.

"You willed it as hard as you could, right?! I _know_ how much you love Pumpkin!" Steven shouted at her; tears were forming in his eyes, because it was killing him to talk to anyone like this, let alone his own girlfriend. "That's the same power you used to resist White Diamond for a week, Peridot! If you can't do it, then you can't do it! There's no training you can do to change the result here!"

Peridot felt herself shudder from the inside; she had to resort to grasping at straws. "Wh-what if I willed you to be able to heal anything and revive anyone?!" she suggested in sheer desperation. "I, I could supercharge your pow–"

"Peridot, if you could do that, you could have willed White Diamond to let you go _forever_ ago!" Steven countered. He was so determined to shut this down and nip it in the bud, he refused to even let Peridot finish a sentence if she was only going to speak nonsense. "We're on the _same level_ – you've been told about this _multiple times!_ Even if you could make me better, you still really couldn't!" He remembered her words from earlier while he was recovering. "You don't understand my powers, and you can't just mess around with powers you don't understand, no matter how much you wanna use them! No matter what cause you have to wanna use them – you just _can't_ , Peridot! This is it. It is what it is."

Lapis decided to cut in; witnessing this conversation up close was killing her as much as it was for Steven, but she felt the need to punctuate the finality of this tragedy. She knew Peridot needed to stop wasting the little time that remained on finding impossible ways to save the situation.

"Peridot… it's just like you told Steven before," she spoke very softly, though she had to keep her tone flat to put a cap on any emotional outburst from coming out. "You can't save everybody."

Steven's and Lapis' words struck her like two blades into her gemstone. She _had_ said that. Multiple times, even, to keep Steven from acting the way she was right now. Only now did Peridot realize how hard it truly was to accept a loss like this; the young gem felt like she was losing a piece of herself. Steven gave Pumpkin life, but she was the one who always nurtured that life.

Peridot never realized until now she hadn't endured a loss like this before; not one that mattered, anyway. For all the cold indifference at best and diabolical cathartic satisfaction at worst she felt for the multitudes of her shattered kin, it was an overwhelming stark contrast to how Peridot felt about a life fading in front of her present-day self. She felt like such a cold-hearted hypocrite right now; Peridot was coming to regret all the times she forced Steven to get his act together whenever a life was taken. It didn't matter that the details of those times hardly matched up with the current situation; Peridot could not bring herself to accept this. And to hear _Lapis_ of all people use her own words against her – it was too much to bear. Peridot felt herself about to overflow.

" _Don't you dare turn my own words on me ever again!"_ Peridot cried out at Lapis in sheer anger. " _You_ have no place in this, you _deserter_ , let alone a right to even _speak_ to me right now! **GET** _ **OUT**_ **OF HERE, LAZULI!** "

Peridot punctuated her hateful words with an equally hateful hard slap to Lapis' face.

Everyone was in shock; Lapis was no different. She could always tell Peridot had wanted to take a shot at her ever since she came back from the Moon, but she _always_ held back. Pre-leader Peridot probably would have succumbed to the urge much sooner, but responsibility forced the tiny, anger-prone gem to learn the art of restraint. It was a trait Lapis never thought Peridot would have been able to be so proficient with. Perhaps that's why, despite seeing that desire in her unforgiving eyes, Lapis stopped thinking Peridot would act on her anger. This time, she was wrong. She was slapped so hard, she was knocked to the ground; a very sizeable dark blue imprint of Peridot's hand was visible on her right cheek. Even though Peridot was way out of line, Lapis had no desire to fight back. She felt she had this coming ever since she tore their home away from her and turned her back on Earth.

Peridot was seething, breathing rapidly after finally acting on her violent impulses. She glared down at Lapis, who seemed content to just remain down without a single remark.

"I'm sorry. I love you."

Those were Steven's words. Said seconds before he kicked Peridot in the back of the head to keep her down.

Now _everyone_ in the crowd was paralyzed with not only shock, but terror. Peridot never saw it coming, and found herself roughly falling face-first into the colorless dirt of Homeworld's dead earth. It wasn't even the hit itself that hurt the great and durable Peridot the most; it was the fact that it was _Steven_ who did it. Steven, who promised Peridot way back on the first day of her captivity in the bathroom that he wouldn't hurt her, went back on his word.

Peridot barely had time to register that before Steven dragged her up by her collar and yanked her over to face Pumpkin instead of Lapis.

"Peridot, you don't have much time left to say goodbye to Pumpkin," Steven growled at her. "And here you are, _hurting your friends_ , without needing to be manipulated." He wanted to be sure she knew he felt that action alone was far worse in his eyes than any transgression Peridot made against them in recent history. "So, _say your goodbyes_ while you still can. I sure wish I had that opportunity with Mom." He roughly shoved Peridot right back to where she needed to be: with Pumpkin.

At that time, Sapphire had seen another soon-to-come glimpse of the future and acted accordingly. "Ruby, help me out," she urged. "Everyone but _her_ needs a soundproofing barrier within the next minute."

Ruby knew who Sapphire meant by "her". Tears had been freely streaming from her eyes the entire time, and it took all of her own willpower to keep herself from exploding out with sheer emotion. She nodded in understanding to her spouse, and a moment later, Garnet reformed. Energy charged in her hands, ready to protect her friends from what she feared would soon happen.

Peridot was filled with disgust at herself; she couldn't believe she finally gave into her violent impulses after resisting them for so long. And she did so while _Pumpkin was dying._ She couldn't forgive herself for that.

"P-Pumpkin…?" Finally, she looked to the life she fostered for so much of her time on Earth. "Pumpkin, I'm–"

Just as she rested her hands on Pumpkin's face, Peridot saw the life leave her eyes. It was like flipping a light switch. Any other words Peridot could've offered Pumpkin couldn't leave her mouth. As if to close the case and snuff out any and all doubts that Pumpkin was still alive in there, Peridot witnessed a disintegrating pink ball of life raise up from Pumpkin's body; it was coming apart in beautiful sparkles.

Peridot reached her finger out to touch the ball in hopes of catching this dying life vacating its host, but all she did was break the ball apart further as a small of sparkles spilled out and raised up into the sky until they were no longer visible. The tiny gem tried to contain a few of the pink blinking lights in hopes of salvaging this through the power of science, but they too floated out of Peridot's grasp and eventually disappeared.

No one dared to even breathe as they watched Peridot on her knees next to Pumpkin's remains looking pleadingly up to the sky. She didn't have any more ideas. She knew of no other methods. And by now, she realized she was just too late. She couldn't even give Pumpkin a proper goodbye.

Peridot understood something in that moment; a rather random detail, but one that would fuel her future actions.

She remembered Lapis often calling her Pumpkin's cringy mom when they still lived together.

She remembered Greg in their very first talk together as Peri Patrol partners, when he pointed out Peridot's strong maternal instinct the moment Pumpkin came rushing to her lap. She had no idea what he was talking about back then.

And she remembered Steven being fully behind his father's beliefs; they agreed on this. Steven reminded her how happy she was in both his and her version of a stereotypical domesticated future for the couple. And even before the blurred out children came rushing out, what always came out first was Pumpkin and what she presumed were little babies of her own. Peridot couldn't deny it; she felt an ascended form of joy she had yet to feel in the real world.

Except… she technically has. And it was with Pumpkin all along. That was the piece of herself Peridot felt just perishing along with Pumpkin.

Garnet acted now; with everyone close together, they could all fit in the same reinforced soundproofed barrier together. Everyone of course had their focus directed on that now; confused, but still didn't speak a word until the leader broke the team's silence.

"Everyone, calm down," she softly ordered. "We can't stop what's going to happen next; all we can do is minimize the damage and ensure that we are not permanently deafened due to this."

Steven looked to Garnet in panic, not on board with this at all. "B-but Garnet, I need to be–"

"You will be there for her," Garnet finished for him. "When the right moment comes. It won't be long."

Garnet wasn't wrong about that; this was far from the right moment. Peridot weakly reached up at the sky, trying to will the pink energy to return to her as small squeaks and cries escaped her lips. Peridot was completely broken at this point.

"Come… ba–ck… _yngh_ … no… _no_ …"

Peridot's hand abruptly fell to her side. The lifeless produce that was once Pumpkin was still right in her face. It would've been hard enough seeing a full corpse, but the gruesome end Pumpkin met just made it all the harder to watch, and yet Peridot couldn't stop.

In the time she spent screaming at Lapis and slapping her face, she could have talked to Pumpkin one last time. Now that chance was gone. Forever.

" _ **IYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH–!"**_

The ground rumbled, and a strong light green beam of light shot out from Peridot's gemstone as she cried out to the sky. Seconds later, a frantic energy ring of the same color flashed out from Peridot's body; even through Garnet's barrier, everyone was forced to slide back, which prompted the likes of Pearl, Lapis, and Steven to strengthen the barrier as well. Now the Crystal Gems saw what they were in for.

A torrent of fierce light green energy rained down from the sky – this was from the beam of light Peridot shot out from her forehead, split into many smaller beams that tore apart everything it came into contact with. The Crystal Gems were wise to buff the barrier when they did; these beams would have easily pierced through Garnet's alone. A massive gale swept over the area as Peridot continued screaming out her sobs at the top of her lungs, emitting more and more residual energy that pushed the Crystal Gems away. As the crumbling ground rumbled further, it felt like Peridot's screams somehow got louder, and they did – as she now shifted into Chartreuse Diamond subconsciously.

"Goodness gracious, _no!_ This can't be real!" Pearl cried out in terror. Everyone looked in her direction. Fidgeting with one hand clinging to her lips, her free hand directed everyone over to what she witnessed. Everyone understood her panic very clearly now.

The structures still left standing on Homeworld were collapsing. It wasn't due to the earthquakes; one by one, each Diamond palace vibrated, then shattered into countless amounts of shards. The colossal pair of legs representing Pink Diamond's ship collapsed in on itself, turning into dust. That wasn't the work of the dying planet; that was the work of Chartreuse's voice breaking any glass or otherwise brittle material. Several large establishments in the metropolis shared the same fate. The entire heart of what made Homeworld tick was completely falling apart all at once – now the once-populated capital of Homeworld was nothing more than mountains of shards clustered together.

"She's rapidly accelerating the destruction of Homeworld," Connie quietly realized. "And if there was any other ship out there to take us home… it's not there anymore."

"We really are going down with this planet…" Bismuth murmured in disbelief. "I don't wanna believe it, but…"

Amethyst squinted out in the distance from her angle and stumbled back in shock. "Uhh, Steven! I think I found your cue to get out there and help your girl!"

White Diamond was in the distance, looking worse for wear, but somehow she wasn't shattering like everything else was with Chartreuse's voice.

Steven growled as he shifted into Pink 2.0. "I am so _sick_ of her! She's coming back, thinking she's gonna fuse with me! She's _still_ on about making the Diamond of Miracles!"

"We're sure gonna need a miracle to come out of this alive; that's for sure," Amethyst muttered.

Garnet looked to Pink 2.0. "And you know she can force you into it. Even if you resist, the planet won't be around long enough before you can escape. You know what you must do to escape that fate."

"Yeah." The Diamond nodded to Garnet. "Time to fuse."

"–Is it really time for Obsidian?" Pearl asked with worry. "At this stage, I think we'll just help tear Homeworld apart even faster."

"Nope." Pink 2.0 shook his head; he looked dead certain of what he needed to do. "I remembered something Celadon told me. I get it now."

He could hear the words from her sickeningly condescending voice right now:

" _I'm fairly certain you and I have different ideas of what a "miracle" is."_

"She thinks the miracle is her and me," Pink 2.0 stated. "Well, _I_ think it's me and Peridot. So, we're gonna find out who's right…" He turned to face the still-screeching Chartreuse. "Right now."

Connie was rightfully worried. "Steven, we heard it all, you know. You already tried twice with her, and–"

"It's now or never, Connie!" the Diamond insisted, raising his voice. "Th-third time's the charm, or whatever! I have to _try!_ "

Pearl looked on at Pink 2.0; she kept it to herself, but it was haunting for her to even look at the awakened Diamond, seeing so many of the original Pink's physical features mixed with Steven's. At this time, all of that felt so trivial. She gave Rose's son her blessing. "I believe in you, Steven. We all do. If anyone can turn lemons into lemonade… well, it would be you."

Lapis, who had understandably been quiet all this time, looked up and found even more issues to worry about. "P-Please help her, Steven," she urged. "She's tearing up Homeworld's atmosphere!" Indeed, the sky was gradually torn away in slices to reveal the ocean of stars known as outer space. "It'll be impossible to keep our human teammates safe if we keep stalling!"

Pink 2.0 paused and licked his finger before turning to Lapis and dabbing it on the dark imprint on her cheek. Lapis smiled at the Diamond and relaxed with the healing sensation as that brutal, ugly mark faded away.

"Ah… thank you," she graciously said before smirking. "Now, go make us a miracle."

* * *

White Diamond growled and grumbled as she hobbled back to where she was before the Celadon Diamond fusion was destabilized. She had been slowed down by the barrage of planet-wide destruction caused by Chartreuse's endless agony. She was frozen with horror to see the entirety of everything she worked for shatter in an instant.

Pink 2.0 was her only hope, now. She _had_ to fuse; she needed a miracle to make everything perfect again as it was in the beginning. White could tell by the color of the energy that this was Chartreuse's doing, which actually horrified her. Killing a living pumpkin triggered _this_. She thought she had Chartreuse under control with the constant reminder that she needed to not go wild with her powers, which Chartreuse followed even after she defected from White's side. White knew a catastrophe like this was only to be expected from a gem born with heterochromia – in that context, it made sense that Chartreuse was ripping the planet apart with her insanity.

White refused to tell herself she should have thought this through more. That would basically be admitting imperfection. Which, despite her _many_ mistakes and oversights, she still believed herself to be perfect.

The barrier protecting the whole team from Chartreuse's storm suddenly got smaller as Moonstone emerged from it, standing right in White Diamond's way. She still needed protection from the deafening, endless shrieks from Chartreuse, but also needed to hear what was going on around her, so her hearing wasn't soundproofed, but reduced about 80% of the actual volume outside. Alexandrite followed suit not long after. Both fusions guarded the prone Chartreuse Diamond, who would soon be tended to by an even further protected Pink Diamond 2.0. It was slow going due to the wind resistance, but that wasn't nearly enough to deter the young Diamond. He was determined to do it this time; whatever caused their failure for their other attempts, Pink 2.0 wasn't going to dwell on it. This was a do-or-die situation. Thankfully, the inner Steven seemed to recall Peridot working well under pressure.

Still remaining in the barrier were the full humans, Connie and Greg. With Greg still injured, Connie took charge in looking after the man. She didn't mind being relegated to a job like this; Greg's job was far less glamorous than this, but it wasn't any less crucial to the team.

White Diamond huffed at the young Diamonds' bodyguards. "You do realize you'll all die with this planet if a miracle is not performed, yes? Why would you intentionally put a stop to this and doom yourselves?"

"What makes you so sure you're the miracle, here?" Moonstone sardonically remarked. "You've caused death and destruction everywhere you go since the beginning of your existence."

White Diamond _tried_ not to look horribly offended by that. "So you are saying _this_ , despite the clear indicators of chartreuse coloring, is a direct cause of _my_ actions?" She referred to the chaotic storm of wild gale-force winds and constantly-rumbling Earth and all shattered establishments of places once filled with life all around them.

Moonstone raised a brow at the Diamond. "You _did_ force Peridot to ascend to become Chartreuse in the first place; you went as far as traumatizing her for life with that blade to her neck that _also_ traumatized Steven, or _Pink_ if you so insist. Yeah, you did that just so you'd get another Diamond. I'm sure you didn't realize until recently how badly you screwed up your own system by killing Blue and Yellow the way you did. You just lucked out hard finding the last gem you screwed around with."

"And I see you are under the impression that Starlight and Twilight are the miracle." White smirked at such a notion. "I wonder what makes you even think that. Thanks to the latter, I doubt you all even have 5 minutes remaining before Homeworld completely falls apart. I can already feel the remnants of the old core beginning to erupt."

The fusions doubted White Diamond had a clue what she was even talking about when she brought up the time frame.

"Unlike you, I believe in those two," Moonstone boasted. "Because they've got more than Life and Will going for them, you know… they've got a thing called _love._ " Both fusions looked fondly behind them to see Pink 2.0 had almost reached Chartreuse by this point. Satisfied, their attentions were back on White Diamond.

"Oh, _pshht._ Love, honestly," White muttered, unimpressed. "Love and friendship may seem different to you Earth-infected gems, but I know they're basically the same thing: a weak illusion."

Moonstone summoned dual-wielding weapons from her body again; this time a pair of scimitars. She had a preference for weapons with crescent-styled curves, apparently. It was anyone's guess why _that_ was the case… "Your entire front is a weak illusion, White. I see you're still reeling from those cuts I gave you last time."

White Diamond was visibly annoyed. She was more powerful than any fusion, but she had been worn down considerably. Being the Diamond of Omniscience really didn't mean anything anymore when all of her proxies had been destroyed and there were literally no other gems left than her opponents left on this world. Especially on a planet bereft of any other kind of life, with its own livelihood hanging by a thread.

"You harmed your little "friend" as well in the process, you know," White pointed out, who was correct. The tension and tragedy that came with the Pumpkin incident did leave Peridot with some scars that she retained as Chartreuse Diamond, but the little gem was running on pure adrenaline and wouldn't let any physical wound deter her from her goal of saving Pumpkin.

And evidently, Chartreuse still had plenty to spare, as she had been screaming non-stop for several minutes at this point. Pumpkin's death wounded her more deeply than anything she sustained since returning to her home planet.

"Yeah, but Steven's gonna heal her," Moonstone confidently, and correctly assumed. "You'd best hope she doesn't see you, White. There's no way she won't stop at anything to shatter the murderer of her baby."

White Diamond looked disgusted by that word. " _Excuse you?!_ "

She was suddenly bashed in the back of the head from a swift Alexandrite using Sardonyx's war hammer. "Moonstone, I don't believe this Diamond is mentally mature enough to learn about babies yet."

White fell to the ground, disgusted with everything now. "Just you wait. You'll both throw your lives away for this miracle that will _never_ happen!"

Alexandrite smiled as her extra arms each summoned an individual weapon in preparation for keeping White held down as long as possible.

"Failure breeds success," she said.

* * *

Steven, as Pink 2.0, had finally made it to the eye of the storm. Chartreuse didn't have a clue her fellow Diamond was just a few feet away; she had been completely overtaken by her grief and sorrow over losing Pumpkin. It fostered an endless anger dwelling in her body that made her wish for this planet's death, though she preferred it to be a slower, more painful variety. Not in the interest of helping her friends – Chartreuse actually forgot she had any friends by now – but to make Homeworld suffer, just as it made her suffer for so many years on end. Just as she wanted White Diamond to suffer with a neck full of deep lacerations.

It broke Pink 2.0's heart to hear Chartreuse constantly sob and scream like this, but he couldn't hold it against her. He was certain he'd do no better if his father had actually died. Inching forward, the Diamond reached over, just to recoil from the electric charge that zapped his hand. The voltage must have been insanely high to sting a Diamond so easily, and that was probably the point. Chartreuse didn't believe she deserved any consolation; she wasn't sure if she even wanted it.

That wasn't going to stop Pink 2.0 from trying, of course. His girlfriend couldn't repel him that easily. The Diamond's inner Steven said to just follow through with instincts alone, so Pink 2.0 shut his eyes in anticipation for the inevitable pain as he dove in and embraced the sobbing, chaos-inducing Chartreuse Diamond.

And it did hurt. _Immensely_ _._ But it just made Pink 2.0 hug her tighter and tighter until Chartreuse's sobbing finally started to falter, greatly weakening the constant electric current torturing her boyfriend. In hopes of stopping it completely, he raised up to kiss Chartreuse's gemstone.

That got the youngest Diamond's attention, and just like that, Pink 2.0 was finally given a break. His aura poured out, washing over Chartreuse, who finally felt some calm settle down the madness raging on within her. A bubble of pink energy formed around the pair; the intensity made it harder for Chartreuse to even see what was going on outside them. More importantly, she no longer saw her deceased pet to trigger her any further.

"St… Steven…" He may have been in the form of Pink 2.0, but like everyone else, Chartreuse would always see him as Steven; just like Steven always called her Peridot after learning the truth. "What are you– _ahh_ …" She flinched and rubbed the back of her head. Chartreuse remembered how she sustained a wound in that particular area, now. And it made her all the more confused why any form of Steven would be comforting her right now.

Pink 2.0 immediately felt regret for a lot of his recent actions. "I hope you can forgive me for kicking you in the head," he said lowly. "I really, _really_ didn't wanna have to do it. I just didn't want you to lose your chance to…" He couldn't finish that sentence. Peridot lost her chance to say goodbye, anyway.

Chartreuse tried hard to will away her urge to break down again; she was visibly shaking, and she had only stopped crying for less than a minute before the tears were welling up again. "I… I deserved that," she admitted with certainty. "I lashed out at Lapis at the worst possible time… and I paid the price. It's what I deserve for failing to keep Celadon from doing that in the first place…"

While Pink 2.0 wasn't going to argue the first point, he was definitely disputing the second. "Peridot, _stop_. If you're gonna blame anyone for anything Celadon did, you might as well blame me, too! I could have stopped the fusion from ever happening! But I sat there and did nothing… I don't even know why I blanked out like that. And you gave in b-because… because we couldn't fuse, and because you felt responsible for me slipping into that… really nasty state over our shared trauma. White made you feel like you were infecting me…"

"Steven, you _just_ awakened," Chartreuse tried to argue through her light sobs. "I couldn't have expected you to recover that quickly! A-and you shouldn't have to fight all my battles for me! I-I'm a big gem; I can stand up for myself."

"Come off it with that!" Pink 2.0 wasn't having any of that nonsense. "First of all, I'm not wanting to fight your battles for you; I wanna fight them _with_ you! Secondly, don't you _dare_ start making yourself out to be more mature than you really are! For stars' sake, Peri, you're younger than _me!_ "

That final statement took Chartreuse off-guard. She was shocked… then smiled a little. "I see somebody talked to Garnet…"

"Yep." Pink 2.0 was grateful to have a much more pleasant topic to shift towards. "It's cool our birthdays are so close together, you know? They're _just_ far away enough that the others won't combine our birthdays into one celebration." He pulled Chartreuse tighter into his hug. "I'm surprised you're actually younger than I am, even if it isn't by much. I wasn't surprised you'd be near my age, though. I've been around enough 5,000-plus year-old gems to know when one just isn't like the others. You definitely screamed "young teen" to me… and I'm probably not the only one, heh."

"I'm that transparent, huh…" Chartreuse sighed. "I really try not to let that be a detriment in these situations. Look where it got me."

Pink 2.0's smile vanished. "I promise when we get home, we're gonna just take like, a whole week off where we don't do anything but rest and talk stuff out… and whatever else we want. Just us two, okay? There's a lot of stuff we had to gloss over because of this mission."

"First of all, I'm fairly certain your family is _not_ going to let the two of us gallivant off to wherever and _doing_ whatever without any supervision whatsoever," Chartreuse flatly told her boyfriend. "Second, did you not notice _our ship is gone?!_ Thanks to _my_ powers?!"

"Sounds like we need a miracle, then," Pink 2.0 said knowingly as he pulled out of the hug to lace his fingers together with Chartreuse's.

Chartreuse cringed at that line. "Steven, please don't tell me you bought into that nonsense."

"I think you overlooked something important when you made that super-depressing note to me," Pink 2.0 pointed out. "Whether or not you bought into it doesn't matter. What does is that White Diamond _definitely_ buys into it. She wouldn't risk something like double-diamond fusion, which never happened before until today, if she didn't believe there's some truth to it. And just by humoring the idea that it could be true, I could tell right away Celadon wasn't the right fusion to live up to the legend. That's why I dared her to prove it."

"I feel like it was _my_ half that fell for that," Chartreuse muttered. "Anyway, how can you even know something like that, especially almost right away before anything is proven?"

"If I had to guess… maybe it's because whatever fusion the real Diamond of Miracles is, it's gotta have me in it no matter what. It's down to me and you, or me and White now." He squeezed their fingers tighter together. "White thinks it's me and her; big shocker, right? But I think it's me and you. And no, I'm not saying that to spare your feelings or 'cause I'm biased. I really, _really_ feel like it's us."

Chartreuse opened her mouth, but couldn't find the words to say right away. A whole mess of emotions flashed by all at once, and she had to keep her focus on Steven so she wouldn't completely fall apart. "St-Steven, _we can't fuse_ ," she whispered, trying not to sound upset and failing spectacularly at that. "And she _knows_ we can't fuse, so White's not believing what she does purely due to an oversized ego; it's a simple, logical conclusion! And I don't want you risking anything with her, even if it does bring a miracle!"

"I want nothing to do with her," Pink 2.0 was very adamant in saying. "Because I know _we're_ the miracle, Dot. I mean, take what we are, for example. I'm half-human, half-gem. Like you said, my whole existence goes against everything you gems know about life and science and stuff! I'm the only hybrid out there in this universe, y'know?"

Chartreuse regarded her boyfriend with some skepticism, but considered his words fairly. "I suppose one could call it a miracle that you even exist," she conceded. "Given that there's only ever been one of your kind in all of recorded history, it's very plausible you will remain that way for the rest of time." Her bottom lip quivered a bit as she thought more on that. "Unless we actually somehow had offspring… o-or you with some other gem," she hastily added, blushing. She knew as well as her boyfriend did that she wasn't fooling anybody.

"Nope, not even if that happens," Pink 2.0 cheerfully rebutted. "They'd only be one-quarter human and three-quarters gem. Still a hybrid, maybe, but I'm the only 50-50 split. Any kids between me and "a gem" are gonna be more gem than human."

"That is still legitimately terrifying to think about," Chartreuse muttered, narrowing her eyes at the pink young man before her. "Alright, then. You're already a lock for the role, so of course your status as a miraculous being is obvious. You can't make that kind of case with me, Steven."

"Hah! You _can_ be miraculous in other ways, Peridot," he teased. "You know you're a one-of-a-kind, yourself. You're a first in the history books, too. The very first ascended gem, right?"

Chartreuse Diamond's eyes darted to the ground below her. "I suppose that's true. Not an accolade I'd like to boast about, of course. Were it up to me, I would have stayed exactly the way I was when we last saw each other in the tunnel… just another Era 2 Peridot. One of billions; more likely trillions. Not a single thing about me was special on my own merits, Steven."

"Like mine were?" Pink 2.0 challenged. "Peridot, I didn't ask to be born a hybrid; I didn't ask my mom to sacrifice her own life just so I'd be born. Believe me, it wasn't that long ago the last time I caught Pearl having that look that just _screams_ that she wishes Rose was here instead of me. Just like I had no control over that, I didn't have any control over inheriting mom's gemstone; her _diamond_ … just like how you didn't ask for White to mess with your injector fluid before you emerged. We were both born with an unbelievable destiny just shoved onto us without anyone caring about our consent. You know how hard it's been for me lately with the recent stuff; how nearly everyone in my life has called me or sees me as Rose, or talks to me like I'm Pink Diamond even though I'm really not. Peri, you're still one of my only friends who never, ever saw me that way." He drew his face closer to hers. "You see Steven; that's never changed."

"And it never will," Chartreuse swore to him. She couldn't resist being drawn in, especially when her heterochromatic eyes managed to lock with Steven's again. "I suppose I was inconsiderate to presume your merits lied solely in your DNA. When I think about you being a miracle, usually my first thought it how you basically saved me from myself. I was _way_ worse than I remembered being before I was assigned to Earth… you turned me around in a way I don't think anyone else could. But that's a rather subjective notion; that's why I didn't bring it up before…"

That prompted Pink 2.0 to snicker. "Can I kiss you yet?"

After a sigh of defeat, Chartreuse smiled and closed her eyes. "I suppose we haven't truly done so in our new forms, have we? I'll allow just a bit of it; I feel like perhaps this isn't the time to do what we did the last couple of times it was just us…"

"This _is_ a pretty sucky time, I guess," the young man reconsidered as he began to pull away. "What else should I bring up that you're just as much of a miracle of life as I am?"

After the trouble she went through and the pride she swallowed to allow her own boyfriend to kiss her, Chartreuse was _not_ tolerating any flakiness from her significant other. She yanked him back pulling their intertwined hands towards herself.

"You know how to praise me; keep doing that," she said with a bizarre mixture of suggestiveness and assertion of dominance before leaning in to close the gap between their lips. Pink 2.0 faintly remembered the difference between Chartreuse's kissing and Peridot's while he was still just Steven. The kiss he experienced now matched up with how he remembered it last time; Peridot at least _tried_ to be chaste with some of her displays of affection, but as Chartreuse she was much more unabashedly devious in her approach. Whether he was Steven or the second coming of Pink Diamond, his fellow Diamond went out of her way to focus more on the pleasure than the passion, opposed to herself as Peridot.

That's what made it easier for the pair to not let their quiet moment linger for too long.

"Should I bring up that Earth wouldn't exist today if it wasn't for you?" Pink 2.0 said after a brief basking in the afterglow of expressing his love. "I know it was a group effort, but it's not like I knew how to operate the drill or anything if I had to go it alone. You still had to get me down there to communicate with the Cluster."

Chartreuse pouted as she tried to find a way to dispute that; this was something they had gone over so many times in the past. She felt like she had found a way to shove most of the credit onto the others, but nothing was coming to mind, except… "W-we wouldn't have gotten to that point if you hadn't freed me from Garnet's bubble, Steven," she told him. "It wouldn't matter how much I knew about the Cluster if I was stuck with all the other bubbled gems, you know? Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst sure didn't plan on ever letting me out! That's all on you!"

This was _too easy_ for Pink 2.0. "I wouldn't have freed you from the bubble if you didn't start explaining why we needed you," he decisively countered. "I know you were mostly saying that in the interest of saving yourself at the time, but we wouldn't have learned about the Cluster any other way. If you hadn't kidnapped me, Peridot, I wouldn't have seen just how desperate you were to leave Earth. You looked so defeated when I couldn't fix the warp pad. You _do_ remember you threatened to kill me if I didn't do it, right?" Chartreuse recoiled with shame, but Pink 2.0 pulled her back in. "You didn't even try to follow up on that… you broke down and panicked. You were so scared and vulnerable, which was new for me to see at the time. I started thinking back to when you interrupted our TV broadcast, crying for help to Yellow Diamond; you were really terrified of being trapped on Earth. It wasn't just that you knew what was gonna happen to Earth – you had a really hard time trying to survive on an alien world you didn't understand with no one to help you. Peri, if you didn't open up and show me who you really were back then, I probably would've believed what Garnet thought your motive was when they poofed you: that you were just lying because you were cornered."

The scowl on Chartreuse's face was proof enough that Pink 2.0 won this battle. She couldn't even begin to construct a differing perspective to counter any part of what he said. "You clod…" she grumbled as her cheeks burned a much darker shade of green. "Call that a checkmate, then. I concede."

"You're the miracle Earth didn't even know it needed until it got you," Pink 2.0 grinned, rubbing his victory into her face. "And not a single bit of that had anything to do with what you were born as!"

"I _suppose_ …" Chartreuse was compelled to poke a hole somewhere, though. "Except for the fact that I probably needed what I was born with to get the Earth assignment. We've been over that already; I had to be an absolute monster to get ahead in my line of work. And Peridots aren't supposed to be inherently savage like I was, since it's not relevant to our purpose. It's a trait a warrior class like quartzes are bred with; not technicians. I wonder if I still would have been chosen for the assignment if I wasn't made from diamond-infected injector fluid."

Pink 2.0 shrugged. "I wonder if I would've earned anything I have on my own without my heritage. I mean, if I was a full human, that's kinda obvious… not that it stopped Connie from kicking any butt. Or if I was a full gem, if anything would've been the same; that one's a little more ambiguous. But we can't dwell on those what-ifs too much, Peri. You had no idea you were anything other than a Peridot. No one gave you any special treatment; you didn't even know you had all these abilities you could take advantage of. You were working on instinct. I'm sure there were others of your kind who were huge jerks in their own right; from what you've said and what I've seen, it's a really brutal work environment. Survival of the fittest is the only law there, it sounds like. It wouldn't really be like that if you were the only bad gem in the mix."

It never sat well with her inner Peridot to think back on those times for any reason, but it felt easier this time around, oddly enough. Perhaps because her boyfriend was helping her gain some perspective from the major events of her life; when she was at her highest _and_ lowest points.

"Since I saw with my own eyes some of the stuff you did in those days… and your personality, your goals and stuff… Peridot, it's a miracle that you are who you are now." Pink 2.0 was completely honest as he said this. "You know how you said gems will get stuck in their ways and not really change all that much once they hit a certain age, no matter what happens? You're kinda right, y'know. Did you know that's a thing for humans, too?"

Chartreuse understood what was being said to her, but it didn't make any sense. "But humans have such minuscule lifespans… they don't have time to stagnate!"

Her boyfriend chuckled at that. "Say that when you've actually lived long enough to see it happen. Really, it's like the exact same principle; the older humans get, the more they resist change. And even for humans my age, it's hard to change much. Some of them can do it, but a lot of them either can't or won't. We like familiarity in our lifestyle… and change kinda threatens that. We're almost the same age, but I don't really see myself becoming the opposite of who I am now; I'm pretty sure it isn't possible. I'm gonna mature and change a little, but Peri… everything about you except your intelligence, your tech know-how, and what you were born as changed radically in just a few months. You're a caterpillar that turned into a butterfly!"

That flustered Chartreuse fiercely as she tried to look grossed out more than genuinely touched. "You _really_ just said that… oh, my _stars_." She attempted to sound mockingly condescending, but her weakness for praise greatly weakened her efforts.

"If you want, I can go down the list of every trait you had as a Homeworld gem and compare it to how you are now," Pink 2.0 offered slyly. "Or you can just take the compliment and accept that there's a lot of miraculous things about you, Peridot. You know I can keep this up all day."

Part of her really wanted him to… that basically an offer for constant praise. But, she controlled herself. Chartreuse knew why she was being told all of this; if she couldn't accept herself as a miracle in any sense of the word, there wouldn't be a chance for them to fuse. No amount of private intimacy would permit them to fuse in the past, and everyone else made fusion look so _easy_. While fused into Celadon Diamond, she got a real good look and feel of Moonstone's capabilities. It didn't take her long to figure out which gems the fusion was comprised of. It made her jealous. Her own personal teammates – one who had PTSD due to a past fusion and was more than happy to swear it off forever, and a fellow gem who had never fused with another in her entire long-lived life – _they_ were able to pull this off. Peridot and Steven were solidly a couple who wanted this, but something kept holding the fusion back. And Chartreuse knew she had to be the one causing the problem; either some personal hang-up prevented the two from joining as one, or Era 2 gems really weren't ever meant to fuse. The latter was just depressing, considering it was proven that organic beings could fuse with gems under the right conditions. But by this point, she had told her boyfriend as Peridot pretty much everything. Not only that, but through the aura connection, Steven _witnessed_ some of the nastiest skeletons in her closet. She didn't know how they could be any closer; what she needed to change in order to let a fusion happen. But as Pink 2.0 blatantly told her, her Peridot persona had undergone more change in a short period of time than most sentient beings ever changed over their entire lives. What else was she missing?

"… I'll take the compliment," Chartreuse gently conceded. "I mean, you really _can't_ go on all day because we're on a rapidly-decaying planet, but I understand the message you're trying to send across. If we don't do this, we're all gonna die." She took in a deep breath before continuing. "I sincerely accept there are… multiple aspects about myself and my actions that can be construed as miracles."

Pink 2.0 nodded; he began to feel a warm feeling within that he couldn't quite describe, but he believed he was finally getting through to Chartreuse's inner Peridot. "Can you accept being a Diamond, now? It's not easy for me either, but… we can prove being a Diamond isn't inherently a bad thing, you know. The two of us can make history being the first Diamonds who aren't total expansionist, warmongering jerks."

Chartreuse giggled at that description. "I-I'm _fairly_ sure we can go against the grain in that regard," she assured. "I really didn't ask for this, but… then again, I didn't ask to be stranded on Earth, either. But accepting Earth as my home was the best thing that could have happened to me, since it brought me to you. I guess… having ascended now, we really can't avoid having our destinies tied together. Not that either of us would _not_ want that, but… I need to accept what I am to make our true potential a reality. I'm sure I'll… learn to love it in time. In this moment, I'll accept it."

Now it was time for the hard question; the part Pink 2.0's inner Steven strongly suspected was the root of their problem. "Do you accept yourself, Peridot?"

"–Do I… _what…?_ "

Pink 2.0 knew he needed to cut to the chase; there was no time to skirt around this. "For all the bad things you did in your former life that you can't do anything to fix, whatever hang-ups you've got inside you that you're worrying about, or you're doubting yourself… Dot, I gotta know this: can you forgive yourself? I don't wanna wait until you become a mom for that to happen. You need to make peace with this part of yourself now."

While Chartreuse did an admirable job resisting her urge to avoid Steven in his Pink 2.0 form due to the very disturbing mixture of his features with his mother's – who she recently spoke to in spirit form, no less – it was impossible not to freak out now. It was more than that; her boyfriend just revealed that…

" _Ohmystars! You heard ALL of that!"_

But Pink 2.0 wouldn't let her go. One hand remained in hers with their fingers held together, but the other let go so Chartreuse could be held around the waist and consequently be held as close to his body that they physically could be.

"A lot of it, at least…" Pink 2.0 felt bad that he hadn't admitted to it until now. He'd never heard his girlfriend sound and act so utterly vulnerable before, and he knew bringing it up would only completely frazzle her. "It was echoing over the battle in my head. Certain parts of that talk is what made my pacifism hold out in the end." Chartreuse completely forgot she didn't ask which part of Steven won that conflict, but… she remembered not wanting to burden him with it at the time.

She felt herself hyperventilating; there was _so much_ of that conversation Chartreuse prayed Steven would never learn about. It turned out that he knew all along… and somehow held it in until now. "I– You– She–" Words couldn't properly form in her head. The loving boyfriend knew he needed to smooth this over; he regarded this as the hard part for a reason.

"Shh, shh," Pink 2.0 gently shushed her with a quick kiss and rested Chartreuse's head against his shoulder. "I know there's no way you've been comfortable with how I look right now since White forced me to awaken, but you need to know something, Peri: Mom's not in here. Her likeness is still in her gem; you saw that when you drew it out, and since White tried to force me to take on her appearance again, this is what she's gotta make do with. But you summoned her spirit from somewhere else entirely, Peridot. I have no idea where from or how you did it outside of you willing her to be drawn from my gemstone, but that's not where she really came from. It's okay if this is making you uncomfortable, you know? After what you and Mom talked about, and seeing her face in mine like this… it's gotta be creepy."

"Yes," Chartreuse quickly agreed. "It is very, very, _very_ creepy. And it was _super_ uncomfortable talking to your maternal unit. In fact, it downright terrifies me that she, much like your paternal unit, already sees me as this "in-law" figure I would become if we united in holy matrimony. She's just as certain as you are that we'll breed, and I'll bear your hybrid offspring in the future!"

Pink 2.0 couldn't help but let out a giggle as Chartreuse described her situation in her needlessly complex verbose manner, still very much utilizing her "Peri-phrasing" that she was notorious for in her natural form.

"Yeah, I heard that," he admitted with a tone of fondness in his voice. "Geez, I didn't expect them both to be so on board with us… they're thinking our future through way more than we are. That's something we're gonna need to talk about more when we get home, I think," the Diamond conceded. "But… I'm surprised you're kinda handling me in this form as well as you have. I must be hard to look at…"

Chartreuse shook her head. "I think anyone would be shaken if their soulmate took on the appearance of a fusion with one of their would-be in-laws. But it's something I'm more than willing to look past, Steven. I thought of your appearance as extraordinarily strange when we met, after all."

"You did look a little scary when I first saw you," her boyfriend admitted. "The way your voice sounded, and how cold you looked at first… that's what blows my mind on how different you are now. You're just the cutest, now!"

That prompted Chartreuse Diamond to grunt. "You would use _that_ word on me… you cheeky little clod." She smiled a bit. "I can handle an aesthetic shift easily, Steven. But… forgiving myself…" The young Diamond looked a little lost. "How do I even do that? I can't logically justify any of my actions."

"It's bad; I know," Pink 2.0 nodded in understanding. "But since you came to us, you've been doing nothing but repenting ever since. That's why you went out of your way to learn how to grow crops when you lived in the barn. And why the first thing you did with your powers was to make it rain here… you wanted to bring life back, because how much you've taken away in the past is always weighing you down. Even when we've accepted you and forgiven you, it's not enough for some reason. You need to learn to let go of it."

Chartreuse Diamond gulped; this sounded similar to something she told Lapis in her message.

"You can't do anything about what you did before. Peridot, the best you can do is to never fall down that dark path ever again… and keep doing what you're doing now. And I'm gonna promise you," Pink 2.0 hugged her tightly. "That I'm not gonna let you fall."

"B-but I nearly did already, and I dragged you right down with me!" Chartreuse cried out. "I turned you into something you're not without meaning to! I was so _stupid!_ "

This is what the inner Steven loathed having to address most of all… but he had to do it. And despite his weariness on the subject, he wanted to do it.

"Peridot, for that… we're both gonna need help getting past that when we come home," Pink 2.0 assured her. "You aren't a toxic gem that destroys and taints everyone and everything around you, okay? Don't ever think that anymore… just forget everything White Diamond ever said about you! You weren't the one who poisoned me, okay?! I still had my free will at that point; I joined you because I wanted to. I saw what you saw and just wanted to make White Diamond feel what we felt. And you know better than to feel bad about showing me that memory… I needed to see what she did exactly, so I'd know how to fix you." He sighed with resignation. "Everyone's gonna slip up at some point, Peri. That's just human nature. We're never made perfect. I know you aren't human, but… there's so much human spirit in you now, in everything you do. That's why we've got each other. If one of us trips – and, uh, knowing your grace, I'm sure that'll happen to you a lot, heh – I'll catch you, or you'll catch me before we fall."

Chartreuse looked to Pink 2.0, full of uncertain curiosity. "Is it like some of the movies say, Steven? Without darkness, there is no light?"

"Ah, you mean the yin-yang thing," Pink 2.0 recounted with a smile. "I think there's a lot of truth to it, yeah. There was a similar thing you read in a science book that I remember stuck with you, too."

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction," Chartreuse recited immediately. "Yes… so, the negative aspects of life… they're needed for the positives."

Her fellow diamond nodded. "Do you think you would've been so driven to better yourself if you didn't have that dark past to constantly remind you to always keep going? We already covered how bad you had to be just to get an opportunity to better yourself in the future. It'll always be part of you, Peridot, but it's not a part that matters, anymore. It's just there to remind you if you start to stray from your path… and that's the best thing that dark part of you can do from now on. I mean, I got a much darker part of me now stuffed all the way back… he'll only come out when I'm about to make a really bad choice from now on. And I'll be glad to have him, then."

Pink 2.0 took a breath as he watched Chartreuse absorb those words. He could tell he finally got through to her; that aura of hers never shined brighter than it did now. And it was only then that the elder Diamond noticed the gemstone on Chartreuse's forehead was glowing. It was radiant, yet there was something peaceful about its appearance.

"Peridot, be honest with me, okay?" he whispered. "Can you do it? And I don't mean for me. I'm already covered. You need to do this for _you._ We're so close; I can feel it… can't you?"

It took a moment; Chartreuse had closed her eyes as she considered everything she had been told. For the first time in her life, everything seemed to make sense now. Her inner Peridot could explain everything she saw, felt, and experienced in a logical manner. It felt like her entire body lit up like a Christmas tree – something snapped in her. In her mind, it sounded like a shackle being broken loose. A liberating sensation washed over her; it was something she had felt before, but not in a long time. Not since the time she and Steven dealt with the Cluster.

It was a hidden final seal, buried deep within the gem that finally gave way and broke.

"From now on, I'm never forgetting those words," Chartreuse stated; her voice was higher pitched, almost precisely the same as Peridot's voice. Not surprising, as Pink 2.0 found a translucent form of Peridot superimposed over Chartreuse Diamond. It was the former who spoke to her fellow Diamond. "I feel like this is something I should have already figured out, but… I just felt it. Something repressed me, and it's gone now. I-I finally feel at peace with myself, Steven! Everything finally makes sense to me… it's so surreal. St-Steven, I can do it! I know I can do it!"

"Then tell me," a superimposed Steven over Pink 2.0 told her. "I want to hear it from both of you. You can peacefully coexist now, right?"

Peridot smiled brightly, tears brimming from her eyes as she happily nodded. "W-we accept each other, now. I don't see her as the mark of a traitor anymore. She's just… me. A different side of me… that I guess we'll get to know together. Steven, I… we…"

Pink 2.0's gemstone glowed brightly now. "Go ahead," Steven urged. "Say it, and mean it."

A few beats of silence followed as the young man along with his awakened Diamond form witnessed Chartreuse open her eyes, and in perfect unison, they both responded.

" _I forgive myself, Steven. Let's keep bettering ourselves in spite of this instead of wasting time moping over it."_

She was sincere; it was always easy to tell when she was.

Simultaneously, Pink 2.0 and Steven leaned over to embrace Chartreuse Diamond and Peridot respectively. They readily welcomed the embrace, then the two pairs began to glow brightly with energy of their representative colors.

"You have no idea how gorgeous you look right now; you're the most beautiful gem I've ever seen," Pink/Steven said, filled with rapture. "I… just wanna say that, in case we don't make it out of this. –Oh, and… I love you, Peridot."

Chartreuse/Peridot giggled against him. Even if he hadn't recited that last line, she still would have said it, and she said it right now: " _Wow_ , thanks."

Their lights grew so brightly, their forms were consumed. In place of the thick pink barrier that protected the pair, it burst open to reveal a large, colorless gem in its wake. It glowed within, bringing out a faint ring of rainbow gradient to its shine.

* * *

When the gem formed, everything came to a halt. From the fighting between White Diamond versus Moonstone and Alexandrite to the crazed weather brought about by Chartreuse's sorrow and agony. Everyone's attention turned to the strange glowing gem stuck in the ground; this was an unusual occurrence.

Before anyone could vocally remark on it, a brilliant light broke out through the top, illuminating the entire area – possibly the entire remains of Homeworld as a planet.

No one could make out what was happening, but from the sound from the gem, which by now had its entire top half broken out from the endless outpouring of luminescence, something was emerging.

Time seemed to freeze as a surge of energy shot out, though it was almost indistinguishable from the light of the same color it bathed in.

When the light finally receded, nearly everyone fell back at the sight of the towering new figure that stood before White Diamond and the Crystal Gems.

"They–they… _NO!_ " The former was beside herself with rage and anguish. This figure not only dwarfed Celadon Diamond in height, but also in sheer majestic intrigue.

While this new double-diamond fusion actually looked like it fit on the colorless wasteland of Homeworld given its predominately silver coloring, any light refracting or reflecting from its body emitted a pure, but soft rainbow of colors.

It immediately reminded the Crystal Gems of an extremely minor detail way back in their first team meeting when Steven showed them footage from the beginning of Peridot's message to him. As she temporarily healed her voice with her willpower, a split-second image of some bizarre texture with this exact coloring flashed in. Everyone caught it, but outside of the somewhat crystalline texture and muted colors, there was nothing else to talk about.

Now they understood what it was. Not why it appeared in a random frame of some prerecorded footage, but it seemed like some kind of message that indicated the coming of this new Diamond fusion.

Wide, around eyes opened to reveal heterochromatic diamond irises, but of a different variety: pink on the right and chartreuse green on the left. Her eyes soon became perpetually half-lidded to give the impression she was perfectly relaxed and serene. The diamond-peridot combo gemstone still rested on her forehead, now entirely prismatic. The same could be said for the diamond over her navel. Her entire body – skin included – was such a bright shade of silver with various lights reflecting off of many different areas, it was hard for anyone to make out what this Diamond specifically wore. They could at least make out the face; shaped like Chartreuse's head with her nose while bearing Pink 2.0's smile. There was a very subtle spread of freckles over her cheeks as a remnant carryover from Chartreuse (although said cheeks were no longer puffed out to accentuate her immaturity), but the eyes represented Pink 2.0's purity; no heavy eyelashes or eye shadow necessary.

The hair was what drew a lot of eyes. It was in the style of pigtails like Chartreuse's, but they hung down rather than up and weren't in a multitude of split ends. It instead took on the curly waves of Pink 2.0's hair, making her very light-colored locks take on the appearance of cumulonimbus clouds. Said color was tricky to describe, as it seemed every other minute or so, a very subtle nacreous shine would highlight it, but predominately, it bore pastel shades of the colors that created this fusion: pastel chartreuse as the base, with pastel pink shading and accents that really brought out the whimsical, cloud-like nature of her hair. Overall, no one was sure what to make of her; she seemed far too mature and regal to be a true fusion of Peridot and Steven, even if this did clearly was more of a Chartreuse Diamond/Pink Diamond 2.0 fusion. Then again, there were many visual traits to her that brought out the innocence of her youth – a trait that very much embodied her two components.

"Gotta say… not what I expected," Moonstone admitted as she took advantage of the situation to hack at White Diamond a couple of times to preemptively shut her up before studying the new double-diamond fusion. "Guess we should just be glad this happened at all."

"So, this is what is created from the Diamond of Life and the Diamond of Will," Alexandrite acknowledged before addressing her. "What should we call you, friend?"

The double-diamond fusion looked to her audience with amusement, stifling her amused glee as she couldn't resist showboating to her friends; she went out of her way to make a complex, graceful pose befitting of the two teenagers cohabiting her body. "Hailing from a new era, born from the glimmer of new life and given purpose from the sparkle of my predecessors' wills, I am Irisdescent Diamond – here to save you with elegance."

"... We only needed four words out of all of that to answer the question, but thanks, I think…?" Moonstone waved, forcing the most awkward smile she's ever made. "Geez, that line reeked really hard of Peri…"

"Actually, Moonstone, it reeked of Chartreuse Diamond," Iridescent Diamond politely corrected her fellow fusion and ally. "I understand neither she nor Pink Diamond 2.0 have really made themselves distinct from the forms you know them best as, but I assure you, a Steven and Peridot fusion would be completely different. Perhaps you'll meet her one day, but first, I should focus on making it so we can safely leave for Earth."

"A pleasure to meet you, Iridescent Diamond." Alexandrite was much more stoic about the eccentricities, but was no less overjoyed to see this fusion take shape. "Are you the one known as the Diamond of Miracles?"

Iridescent Diamond softly giggled before extending her arms to create something of a safety bubble around the entire group, since by this point the atmosphere was almost entirely torn up and solar winds had now started to tear into the planet, meaning any human without the protection of a barrier wouldn't live for long on the remains of this world. Bizarrely, the portions of the planet inside the bubble now had color to it, along with patches of the atmosphere contained exclusively within the radius. The hues matched as they would have been on Homeworld naturally.

"I certainly hope I am," she said modestly. "Otherwise, we'll very soon meet our end. So, I should inform you all that this power isn't to be used frivolously. If I could haphazardly use miracles to solve all our problems, they would cease to _be_ miracles." She looked down to a battered and beaten White Diamond and couldn't resist smirking down at the source of everyone's problems. "A detail our nemesis either overlooked, misinterpreted, or simply didn't know about. Thankfully, I can still utilize the powers Chartreuse and Pink 2.0 specialize in; just not to such a high degree as one would expect of a double-diamond fusion. Everyone, please gather together; I would like to use as little of my powers as possible to ensure a safe trip home. Moonstone, Alexandrite, you can defuse now. The time for fighting is over."

While Alexandrite broke down to become Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst without question, Moonstone was reasonably skeptical about this. "You sure about that? I mean, we can neutralize White Diamond without too much trouble… but wouldn't it be safer to shatter her? The second we turn our backs on her, if she doesn't stab us the second we let our guard down, she'll hunt us down all the way back to Earth."

"I understand your apprehension," Iridescent told her. "You're right to feel that way; however, it doesn't serve our needs to end her life at this point. White Diamond has lost her throne and the heart of her empire. When we vacate the premises, she no longer has any fellow Diamonds to use and abuse to her own ends. Should she survive Homeworld's final moments, she will no longer have anything to live for, anyway. Speaking of needs, though… Pearl, if you want to extract her essence, now is the time to do so. Go on ahead and take care of that while I briefly prepare something else."

She didn't really want to tell her friends what her own project was, but it wasn't hard for them to guess, especially after the other Crystal Gems saw exactly where Iridescent Diamond bent down.

The double-diamond fusion forced herself to close her eyes as she inched closer to Pumpkin's remains. She couldn't hold back shedding a few tears before the could bring herself to bubble what was left of the creature Peridot cared for as if it was her own child. The bubble reflected the traits of the Diamond who made it; a very light silver tone, prone to prismatic shines. However, the beauty of the bubble didn't make its contents any less horrific, so the bubble soon took on an opaque black color using the willpower inherited from Chartreuse. This doubled as a means of a sure means of identification, since it dawned on the fusion that they would be coming home to several _million_ bubbled gems exported from Homeworld.

"No way am I leaving you here," Iridescent said quietly. "When we return to Earth, we'll give you a proper burial. Peridot, Steven, and everyone else will want their chance to say goodbye. So… until then, safe travels…" She tapped the bubble, sending Pumpkin to Earth without having opened her eyes that entire time. The black coating couldn't erase what she had already seen. The fusion was certain if she had to look at that sickening display again, she wouldn't be able to maintain her form any longer.

While she took care of that, Pearl cautiously stepped over towards the prone body of the once-mighty White Diamond. Against her better judgment, Moonstone decided to heed the words of Iridescent Diamond and defuse. Bismuth and Lapis were a bit relieved to see Connie quick to volunteer as backup for Pearl.

"If she tries anything, Pearl, make sure you call of us, and we'll be over in a jiffy," Bismuth told her. "Scream if you have to, okay?"

"You be careful too, Connie," Lapis advised. "I'm really not okay with letting her live, but considering who we're relying on to get home now, we can't afford to nitpick."

Connie eagerly nodded to the pair. "It's okay; I've got some extra insurance in case that psycho gets any stupid ideas. Steven's dad still can't stand up on his own, so–"

"Time for some Peri Patrol teammate status checks, then," Bismuth agreed. "Comin' with, Lapis?"

Lapis shrugged and smiled in turn. "Eh, why not? Let's try and unwind a little before we have to rush on out of here."

"You're really lucky Steven is so forgiving," Connie darkly told White Diamond once it was down to her, her foe, and Pearl. "I'm pretty sure Peridot wouldn't have been interested in giving you any mercy after what you've put her through. Act mighty all you want, but we're not falling for it anymore. Your time is over."

Pearl looked down on the Diamond with just as much contempt as she summoned the syringe from her gemstone. "We'll be sure to clean up the mess you made in the near future," she said with a warning tone. "But soon enough will come a time where you're just a forgotten footnote. I said before we even returned here that life would never be the same regardless of which way this plays out. That starts with the single good contribution you'll have in society." She pointed the needle at the scowling White Diamond.

Connie took out the hammer she had been keeping with her in case anything happened to her sword and took on a stance that indicated she would swing it should White Diamond give her a reason to do so. "Try anything funny, and I'll do to you what Peridot did to Yellow Diamond… only with a _lot_ less restraint."

"I see, you still have hopes of reversing the pallid effect," White gathered. "You do realize it won't be _that_ easy. Essence by itself is not the cure; I would have to care enough to find out where I exiled all the souls I evicted from their hosts. And even now, I could not possibly care less. Every single gem whose body was sacrificed for my cause was expendable."

"Oh, we know you don't care," Pearl casually said before brutally jabbing the syringe into the weak point behind White's neck. "But we don't really need you for the other steps. We have a friend who can find those lost souls with merely a wish, and a friend who can help them find their way home."

Connie stepped closer to pin White Diamond down so Pearl could gather exactly what she needed without dealing with any resistance other than the Diamond's grunts of pain. "Stop acting like you have a leg to stand on. It's _over_. You were given so many chances and threw them right back in our faces; be grateful we're not giving you what you deserve."

"I have no illusions of the nature of my situation," White muttered, still in pain while Pearl took her time extracting the essence. "I'm merely curious if you lower beings believe you can do my job any better. I wonder how long it will be before another rebellion emerges, this time to restore the order of they know opposed to whatever nonsense you pebbles think will constitute as a replacement for my empire."

"One step at a time," Garnet cut in. "But that is our concern and yours no longer. You've been granted a great privilege to continue living your life as you do best: for yourself. This conversation over."

Pearl yanked out the now-full syringe, not bothering to take care for her "patient's" comfort. "Mission accomplished. Come along, Connie."

Connie nodded and held Pearl's hand as the walked alongside the gem, keeping her eyes on White Diamond behind them. "I'm watching your six, Pearl. She's not sorry… and she's not above getting one last cheap shot at us if she thinks she can get away with it."

Iridescent Diamond in the meanwhile built their means of transport, though it wasn't a conventional ship. It was what appeared to be a transparent bubble, but this one was made of the same grade of glass used in the windshields and other glass fixtures in both their previous ship and the ships it was made from. It was very large; far more than enough to hold everybody.

"It's time, everyone," Iridescent informed her friends as the bubble lowered to be easily accessed by the earthbound gems. "I know it isn't conventional, but it is very sturdy and there will be virtually no travel time; Chartreuse's power is more than enough for that. I'll join you once everyone is safely on board."

One by one, the Crystal Gems entered their "vessel", finding gravity to shoot them up so that they'd comfortably float in the center of the bubble. While they entered single-file, Iridescent Diamond knelt down again, this time where White Diamond could see her planting something in the dry, deal Homeworld soil.

"What do you think you're doing?" White asked her with narrowed eyes. She wasn't going to bother calling the double-diamond fusion's status into question at this point; restoring color to the pallid terrain and sky, as well as a localized atmosphere, was too spectacular to be interpreted as anything but a miracle.

"An experiment, you might say," Iridescent said, being purposefully vague. "Whenever the time comes that I can take this form again, I will see if it succeeds. Despite my feelings for this wretched place, I cannot bring myself to hold that against the planet itself. It never asked to be abused the way it has. All of that lies on you and the Diamond Authority."

White was not amused. "Your hands are no cleaner; Starlight was no saint and responsible for many lives lost since the war all those millennia ago. And Twilight… her past speaks for itself. You are in no position to pass judgment."

"The difference is, we know what we've done is wrong," Iridescent countered. "All the more reason why we are resolved to make up for our many past transgressions as the Diamond of Miracles… because Homeworld has been long overdue for one. I'm not willing to risk our safe travel home to initiate this miracle right away, but… when the time is right, I will atone. I wish the same could be said for you."

"Don't you dare take pity on me," White growled. "I know you're enjoying the sight of me right now… the only thing missing is my neck cracked with thousands of lacerations, correct?"

The whole time, Iridescent Diamond had a very subdued range of expressions from her polite kindness to her sorrow. This time, her eyes narrowed at White Diamond as she spoke with a tranquil fury. "I thought at least half of me would still feel that way, but no longer. In your pathetic state, it no longer holds the same appeal it did before."

Just then, Iridescent Diamond defused; she accomplished the tasks she was necessary for. Chartreuse Diamond and Pink Diamond 2.0 appeared in her place, but within seconds, they both reverted to Peridot and Steven. Neither of them showed the level of contempt for White Diamond they had before.

"I suppose you were right about something," Peridot stiffly admitted. "Your experiment was a success: a gem from the very bottom of the caste system _can_ rise to the absolute top under the right conditions. I hope it was worth the hundreds of gems whose lives you ruined with this ongoing project of yours to finally get a result that didn't blow up in your face."

White Diamond was in no mood to answer Peridot, who had been a thorn in her side even up to the very end.

"I still wish we could have worked something out; I really do," Steven sincerely expressed. "I feel like in another life, everything could have worked out for everybody. Yellow and Blue would still be here… and you could all really visit me in Beach City to experience the life I've enjoyed, just like Mom did. We could've saved all the gems who've been corrupted for so long… our worlds could have coexisted peacefully. But… I see now that's never what you wanted," he sadly acknowledged. "I hope you'll someday learn to live a better life, but that's all on how you decide to go about it from here on out. I'm letting you start over, White Diamond. Peridot here would've never come along as far as she has if she wasn't given a second chance. And while I think this is maybe.. the fifth time I've given you one, this is where you need to make it count. Please don't let it go to waste."

"Because should you choose to do so, even he won't stick up for you when we make you pay for your crimes," Peridot added with an ominous tone. "And that's the only reason why I'm not shattering you right here and now for taking Pumpkin away from me."

Despite her orders, White Diamond was still being given pity… from an organic and the lowest class of gem in existence, no less. It was maddening. She wanted so badly to destroy them both here and now when they thought they won…

"Before you strand me here on my own dying planet, perhaps you can spare me some power so I can truly move on? At least a means of healing these _hideous_ erosion scars that impudent fusion inflicted on me."

White Diamond did look like a mess; the entire time Chartreuse and Pink 2.0 spoke together before their fusion, she was getting tossed about like a ragdoll between Moonstone and Alexandrite. Her natural white glow that made her specific details difficult to make out – similar to Iridescent Diamond in that regard – was now very faint. The flaws and imperfections that marred their foe's body were impossible to miss. Never did anyone think they would see the day that a Diamond would become this battered and utterly defeated. She was far from the mighty overlord she once was.

"Steven…" Peridot didn't need to look at Steven to know he'd most likely fall for this. She kept her emotions under control this time, but wanted to make it clear that this was still a terrible idea. "I'll respect your decision regardless… but I sincerely hope you don't need me to tell you that fulfilling her request is a phenomenally poor utilization of your common sense."

"It is," Steven agreed. "But I just said I'm giving White another chance; her last chance. It's not going to mean anything if she can't get out of here, Peridot. You see the state she's in; White Diamond's not gonna survive what's left of Homeworld blowing up."

Peridot closed her eyes and nodded. She would try not to be furious at Steven giving this much to Pumpkin's killer. "It's your power. I told you before… however you utilize Pink Diamond's power from this point on _will_ be on you, and not your maternal unit. If you're going to do it, do it now. Our friends and family are waiting for us."

Steven looked to Peridot knowingly, offering a small smile. "This'll just take a second, okay?"

He approached White Diamond, summoning a modest sphere of pink energy. Though Steven tried to maintain his smile, it got harder and harder as he neared the Diamond. After what she did to Pumpkin, and enduring Peridot's storm of sorrow and grief, White Diamond's actions were really too much for even Steven to look past. This truly was the last chance he'd offer this individual. Even now, he could tell White wasn't in the least bit remorseful of her actions or even how her actions led to their current dire scenario. He accepted that he couldn't rehabilitate troubled souls who lost their way if they didn't seek help in the first place.

Steven passed on his energy to White Diamond with great reluctance and watched with a neutral expression as his inherited powers, strengthened by the awakening White forced him to undergo, calmly washed through her body and repaired her many wounds. The fact that a Diamond could even sustain damage like this was very embarrassing for her; Peridot's advice she gave to Pearl to focus on the brittle aspects of a Diamond's gemetic makeup was put to use by all of her teammates – Moonstone especially. This was the result of exploiting an obscure factoid known by very few on Homeworld.

"Bless you, Starlight," White Diamond commended, suddenly smiling. It wasn't her usual malicious kind, either. "You really were the best of us."

Much to her disappointment, Steven didn't react to her unusually kind gestures and thankful words. He remained neutral, only saying, "Goodbye, White Diamond." before turning around to board their abstract vessel.

Peridot silently followed suit a moment later, linking arms with her boyfriend on the way back.

It _angered_ White Diamond to see how little they cared for her now. No more raw fury and rage for her to be entertained with, no bottomless pits of despair and agony for her to revel in… not even any foolish dialogue she could mock. She could feel it; she was _boring_ and _insignificant_ now. They didn't care if they ever saw her again, and they wouldn't even bother checking in on her unless it was made known she was causing trouble again elsewhere in the universe.

The Diamond of Omniscience – her own title completely irrelevant now – couldn't let this stand. They _had_ to notice her; remember her. _Fear_ her…

The Crystal Gems inside the bubble gaped at what they saw next. Steven and Peridot heard it and stopped the second they witnessed the return of the almost blinding white light of the Diamond who was just granted mercy.

Said Diamond just screeched with sheer hatred and agitation as she launched a large white ball of burning-hot energy that would not only hit the couple walking back to the ship, but blast the ship and everyone in it as well.

Well, that's what it was intended to do when White Diamond fired off the attack. Instead…

" _You_ _ **CLOD!**_ _"_

Peridot turned around. Her face was full of the raw hatred White had hungered for, but what she didn't desire was Peridot easily halting the attack with her willpower alone, and with one swing of her arm, she hurled it directly back at White Diamond.

The Diamond never thought she'd see the day an Era 2 Peridot would effortlessly interrupt an attack from the highest-leveled being, let alone just as easily deflect it and send that attack right back at her. White Diamond braced herself for her potential shattering, but nothing came of it. When she opened her eyes to see the giant ball of energy mere _inches_ away from her face, she stumbled away and then saw Peridot holding her arm out, holding the attack in place again.

Peridot finally found a form of catharsis that she knew was far better than simply shattering this monster: _scaring her to death_. She knew from this point on, she'd tell her friends and family about this years down the line… and if it was to be, Peridot would tell her children as well: the day that a tiny Era 2 Peridot instilled a fear so great in _White Diamond_ , it nearly shattered her on that principle alone. White was already visibly destabilizing in sheer terror. Upon seeing the satisfaction on Peridot's face, Steven grew a little concerned.

"I'm not going to shatter her, Steven," Peridot preemptively assured him. "That would be _too kind_ , now." Her hand closed into a fist, compressing the attack into a very tiny speck, which she then flicked at White Diamond. She screeched as a small part of her chipped, but the power of the attack was cut down several hundred times over by Peridot's will. "She should be thankful I'm not demanding a refund on the energy you just wasted on her."

Just as Peridot said that, a hammer flew past the couple at a blinding speed, colliding right into White Diamond's chest. It gave her body a horrific gash that was a far more telling scar of proof that the Diamonds weren't invulnerable than the multitude of less precise and less damaging cuts she sustained prior to being healed.

As White Diamond shrieked, Peridot and Steven looked behind them to see Connie, who caught the hammer Peridot gave her on the last mission as it somehow rebounded off White Diamond's body and landed right into its wielder's hand.

"I warned you," she said with a smirk. "Try anything funny, you're getting smashed. Consider _that_ the refund for taking advantage of Steven's mercy."

Like it wasn't bad enough that White Diamond was humbled by an Era 2 gem; now an organic being trounced her. The gash hurt _badly_ , but it was nowhere near lethal.

"Whoa, Connie!" Steven wasn't as pleased about this, but he couldn't be angry. White did exactly what everyone said she would do if he gave her an inch: she tried to take a mile. "I thought you were in the ship…"

"I was," Connie confirmed. "But I wanted to follow through on my word; _no one_ threatens my friends like that and gets away with it."

"She'll be fine, Steven," Peridot assured. "That wasn't even remotely lethal; I would know. If White shatters, it's out of humiliation. She _did_ just get owned by an Era 2 and a human when she tried to play us… makes shattering sound like the optimal option by comparison, wouldn't you say?"

"That's how I saw it," Connie added. "So… can we go home now?"

As if on cue, the ground violently rumbled.

"That's a definite affirmative if I've ever heard one," Peridot remarked as she shifted into Chartreuse Diamond. "Level up, Steven. All objectives have been achieved; all that remains is to return home safely. I… might require your support to make sure I do this correctly."

While Steven was a little conflicted on what just happened, the grumbling of what was left of Homeworld shook him out of that funk quickly. "Y-yeah," he hastily agreed before he shifted into Pink Diamond 2.0. "Let's go home."

"Hey, White Diamond!" Connie called out just before boarding the ship for good this time. "Just sleep it off; you'll be fine!"

Chartreuse snickered at that. " _Much_ better one-liner this time around, Connie."

Neither she nor Pink 2.0 ever looked back on the increasingly unstable White Diamond they were leaving behind. Once they entered the bubble-shaped vessel, everyone floating around the stable center of the ship, the ship immediately lifted off without propulsion of any kind; it simply rose up similar to how a real bubble would.

Some of the Crystal Gems kept their eye on White Diamond as they floated higher and higher above what little atmosphere remained on Homeworld. The pocket of color and atmosphere restored by Iridescent Diamond had now worn off.

Just before the white speck below them completely went out of sight, a large sphere of light enveloped the area; an explosion occurred, and there was a visible blast radius that looked almost entirely made out of glitter from the distance the other gems were from the area. At that point, Chartreuse Diamond focused herself like she did when transmitting the colossal crowd of Peridots directly home all at once, and began quietly reciting the same coordinates.

"Whoa…" The glitter immediately caught Amethyst's eyes. She knew that wasn't just some pretty special effect. "Did we just see a gem – I mean, a _Diamond_ – shatter out of shame?!"

Lapis was entranced by the visual. "I know I shouldn't feel this way, but… I think that's the greatest thing I've ever seen in my entire life."

"Sounds like some real poetic justice if you ask me," Bismuth remarked with a smile. "Just like that, we made the uppercrusts _extinct!_ We made history, y'all!"

"Homeworld's in the same boat," Pearl noted, not sure how to feel about that. "I mean… did we just _end the war?_ With Homeworld gone, I mean–"

"Don't forget that Homeworld has several hundred colony planets," Garnet reminded her. "They are capable of operating independently, but I feel it's inevitable most will devolve into anarchy when they realize there's no longer a Diamond Authority to oversee their projects, and no home base to report to. A different sort of war may come of this, but the odds of it reaching Earth are very unlikely."

Connie smiled, looking hopeful. "There's no more Diamond Authority, but there are still Diamonds." She gestured over to the isolated couple; Chartreuse needed her concentration, and Pink 2.0 didn't leave her side. He hand his arm slung around her shoulder; he couldn't hold her hands at the moment, but wanted to be nearby just in case she needed any help. She couldn't help but notice a certain detail when Homeworld finally collapsed in on itself, as did everyone else: prismatic dust glittered in the fallout of the planet's destruction and orbited around the empty space where Homeworld once was. "Say… what _is_ that?"

"Let's just say it's… something we might be coming back to in the future," Pink 2.0 whispered. "Iridescent Diamond's got some ideas…"

"Might wanna handle this aftermath stuff one step at a time," Greg advised. He was still injured, but was faring much better by this point. It helped that floating in midair felt far better than having to be held or laying on the ground. "Because, uh… Earth just got a _lot_ of new Homeworld immigrants, right?"

Pearl's eyes widened as she realized that was indeed the case. "I completely forgot about that. Now I'm afraid what kind of mess we're coming home to."

"Told ya, we're gonna need a bigger Burning Room," Amethyst quipped. "Then again, we're gonna be renovating anyway to accommodate our new Crystal Gems members, ain't that right?"

Garnet smiled. "We most certainly are. That means we'll have our hands full for a long time following this mission. It was good timing to pick up so many extra sets of hands in the homestretch of accomplishing a long-term goal."

"Guess that means there's gonna be no shortage of excitement anytime soon," Lapis realized. "Where are we even gonna know where to start?"

Bismuth patted Lapis on the shoulder. "That's why we got team meetings, Lapi. Don't you worry about a thing."

"–State, Delmarva–"

"By the way…" Garnet turned her head in Greg's direction. "Congratulations. You won the bet."

"Huh, wha– oh, _that_ bet?!"

Garnet nodded. "You were the closest, so help yourself to what everyone chipped in when we return."

"–Settlement, Beach City–"

"Pssht, would've been a tie if we didn't put those stupid Cost is Correct rules in," Amethyst muttered bitterly. " _So_ lame…"

Pearl giggled. "Maybe if you're super nice to Greg, he might be inclined to share some of his winnings with you…"

"Are you nuts?! Hospital bills aren't cheap, y'know!"

"Oh, hush. Steven's going to heal you for free by the end of the day," Pearl reminded him. "It's been a _very_ wild ride."

"–Residence, The Crystal Temple. _Commencing transfer._ "

By the tone of her voice at the end, Pink 2.0 realized Chartreuse had heard that entire conversation. Just to be sure she didn't accidentally teleport them all into the sun from being distracted, he offered a bit of calming energy directly into the ascended Diamond's body just as their bubble ship vanished entirely.

* * *

It felt like it had been years since the gems last saw the calming blue sky of planet Earth.

Once the bubble popped, all 9 Crystal Gems (and Lion, who of course covertly entered at some point when no one noticed) landed softly on the sand of their ever-familiar beach. Said beach had been cleaned up a little better during the week-long training period, but there were still parts where scraps of crashed Diamond ship debris remained. For a while, they all just took in the fresh sea breeze, the shining sun, and the various beach-dwelling fauna that passed by the group.

Most were content to sit, but not Peridot. The second her feet touched the sand, she quickly shifted back to her true form. For her especially, this was a badly-needed respite. She wiped away a tear from her eye when it really sank in that she finally, _finally_ made it home. After working herself into exhaustion for two and a half days to save her friends and loved ones, then being trapped in her hellish prison that was her former home planet for a week... at the mercy of _White Diamond_ the entire time, no less… then everything leading up to this point, the technician wasn't sure what she was feeling. It was so many strong emotions at once; she was primarily happy, of course. Overwhelmingly so. She also wanted to cry; not just from happiness, but relief in that her nightmarish torture was finally over, sheer disbelief that after all this time believing wholeheartedly she wouldn't come out of this alive, here she was.

She was also _beyond_ stressed out. Peridot barely had any time to rest since she took up the mission to Homeworld. Her handful of moments with Steven really helped her keep going when she felt she couldn't go any further. She had accepted her identity as Chartreuse Diamond now, but now owning that title had a whole new meaning in a world without the Diamond Authority, where back on Earth, there were now _thousands_ of confused, helpless, frightened, and homeless gems… that would no doubt look to her and Steven for guidance.

Quite a few friends told Peridot when she took up the mantle of Crystal Gems leader that she could very well ascend well beyond that and reach a level far beyond what she ever thought she could achieve. They all turned out to be absolutely right. There was no way she could avoid upholding responsibility for all the gems she sent to this planet. Peridot knew Steven would be there for her, but it was still a daunting prospect.

She overheard Garnet talking about how the colony planets would soon devolve into anarchy once the inhabitants realize the Diamond Authority and Homeworld itself completely vanished. Peridot remembered Iridescent Diamond's intentions with Homeworld, so she was fully prepared for future trips to outer space. What she wasn't ready for was the very real possibility that she and Steven might end up becoming galactic ambassadors in the near future to maintain relations with the numerous Homeworld gems that had migrated to other colonies. Part of Peridot _was_ very tempted to just let everyone take each other out in a civil war far, far away from them, but she knew better now; Steven would never allow for it. Even if it meant that she and Steven would end up becoming incredibly well-known public figures by virtue of being the final two Diamonds in existence… _that_ was bound to attract a lot of unwanted attention

It was even becoming overwhelming when Peridot finally took the time to truly observe the changes to her body. They were very subtle, but as a gem, Peridot never anticipated her form permanently changing at any point in her life. She had been with Steven enough to adjust to his changes fairly easily, though Peridot suspected Steven might be equally uncomfortable with himself – especially since he had organic problems like _hormones_ and _puberty_ to contend with.

Peridot held herself and shivered a bit as she tried her best not to stagger or stumble. She wanted so badly to just pass out on the sand and rest for a few straight days. Maybe just poof and stay in her gem like she did against White Diamond.

But there was a reason why she wouldn't let herself rest. Peridot remembered why she wasn't really relaxing with the others.

It was at point she felt Steven hug her from behind. "You sure you wanna do this right now, Peridot? You've been through a lot… she'll understand if you at least wait a day."

" _Will_ she, Steven?" Of course Steven knew what Peridot had in mind. They were together as one when Iridescent sent Pumpkin off on her way. "Sh-she's dead, you know. How can she understand anything now? You cease any and all conscious activity when you pass on, Steven!"

"But you know Pumpkin wouldn't want you working yourself to death like this," Steven calmly countered. "She'd feel so awful right now if she knew she's doing this to you…"

Peridot winced and held down another urge to cry. "Steven… did I really almost tear Homeworld in half when she died? I-it was going to be destroyed regardless, but… d-did I really shatter the entire metropolis and the _Diamond palaces_ with just my crying…?"

"Mm, yeah…" Steven remembered seeing it when Pearl pointed it out. Peridot must have picked up on some of his memories while they were Iridescent Diamond. "I'm getting the feeling that's your first time dealing with loss like that."

"I–" Peridot couldn't think of how else to explain it. "I suppose it is. But my behavior wasn't normal, was it? I… I went overboard, and…"

Steven shook his head. "I wouldn't have acted any better if Dad really died back there, Dot. A lot of people here on Earth would totally understand every bit of what you felt. They just don't have powers like we do to let out everything building up inside them when something like that happens."

"Right. So I need to be more responsible with my pow–"

" _Peridot, no!_ " Steven forgot how frustrating it could be at times to help Peridot see the full picture, but he still couldn't be too hard on her. He knew full well Peridot was still partially blaming herself for Pumpkin's death since the deed was done by Celadon Diamond using her own willpower to create this tragedy. "L-Listen, yeah, we both need to be more responsible with the powers we've got now. But we _just_ got them, you know? It could've been so much worse. You helped vacate the whole planet, so it's not like you ended any more lives. And you said it yourself: Homeworld was on its last legs anyway. If you held all that in, it could've exploded out at a really bad time. Like, if we were on our way home… it could have just gotten triggered, then boom. We wouldn't be here. You need to stop being hard on yourself over this… I-I know it's easier said than done."

" _That's_ an understatement," Peridot muttered bitterly. "Steven, you'd be just as hard on yourself if that was you stuck in a fusion with White and she used your powers to kill your paternal unit. I know I didn't directly cause it… but I just… I just wish so much I could have done more to resist it. To sabotage her efforts, somehow… maybe I could have saved her?"

Steven hugged her harder. "We'll never know for sure. I know how hard this is for you to accept, but you were able to forgive yourself for what you did in the past, Peridot. Pumpkin forgives you for what happened; didn't you see how happy she was to see you when you first came to us? That's the only time we saw her look happy when we found her, Peri. She's missed you so much… I could feel how happy she was, that she at least got to see you again before she left us. It could've been worse… she could've already been gone by the time you reached us. She would've died feeling so sad, never knowing what happened to you…"

"... Why does it feel like a part of me died off when she did, Steven?"

Steven had a feeling Peridot knew the answer to her own question; perhaps she just wanted to see if her boyfriend didn't think she was crazy for feeling the way she did.

"Because you were her mom, Peridot," Steven answered simply. "I gave her life, but you're the one who raised her. You're understanding it now, aren't you? What it's like when something is born, but it doesn't have a set purpose or function that it knows how to do on day one. Instead it's clueless, helpless, and it needs the guidance of someone who's wise and patient… more importantly, it needs the support and love of someone who's got a lot of it to share around. It needs someone who knows how to put others ahead of themselves. Don't tell me you don't have all of those qualities."

Peridot could no longer hold in her tears. "H-how do you humans endure this?" she meekly asked. "It feels so fulfilling, but if they lose any of their loved ones… and they will eventually, given their finite lifespans… St-Steven, it hurts _so much_. How does your species get past this when it's going to happen so many times in their own lifespans?! Why do you bother getting emotionally invested when it's only going to hurt that much more down the line?!"

When she put it like that, Steven couldn't help but admire the enduring nature of the human spirit. She inadvertently helped him feel better, since this was always a concern Steven himself had lingering in the back of his mind. It was an inevitability he'd someday face with all of his mortal friends and family, including his father and Connie.

"It's always gonna hurt," Steven told her. "And the first time is always the hardest; especially if you have to watch them die. It's hard to say how we keep pushing through all that, to be honest. There's a common phrase in our culture, "it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all"… I know it sounds–"

"Cracked? Yes, it does," Peridot grimly affirmed. "How is it objectively better to live a life going through that trauma opposed to a life never suffering that just at the cost of never feeling affection for somebody? The latter is _much_ more conducive to a productive–" She cut herself off before she continued. "Oh, stars. D-disregard that, please," she urged. "I thought I was past thinking like this.."

"Well, I was gonna say something similar," Steven admitted. "Who wants to ever live a life where they can get hurt so badly like that? But you know the answer to that now; I know you do."

Peridot sighed as she felt herself melt into Steven's hold. "Because love like this is worth it," she dreamily said. "Now that I've felt it, I don't know how I lived my life without it at all. Especially with you, Steven. And now that I have you… every bit of you, and every facet of our relationship intact… I'm never letting it go. S-so you'd better be okay with this, Steven. Because I'm _not_ letting you go; not for anything. Y-you have no idea how happy I am that I get to have a future with you after all… I just wish–" She sputtered into a soft cry. "I wish Pumpkin was still part of it! She was the first one I saw in that daydream outside of myself, Steven! She ran into the kitchen just as a bunch of miniature clones followed before those brats and fully-mature Steven came into the picture!"

"Aw, Peri… you dreamed that Pumpkin had babies of her own without realizing that's what they were," Steven laughed a bit. "She was in mine, too. But… listen to me, okay?" He turned serious. "This is always gonna hurt. There's no getting around that… it's never gonna fully heal. But as long as you keep Pumpkin with you inside here," he instructed; one hand moved to caress his girlfriend's forehead and gemstone. "And here…" The other hand cupped around the left side of her bosom where the heart would be on a human; Steven really wasn't sure what the equivalent to that was on a gem. "Then Pumpkin's never completely gone. She wants you to remember her not for how she left you, but for all the good times you had together. I know it sounds stupid to you right now, but once enough time passes, this is gonna hurt less and less. And when you think about how much you miss her, just thinking back on the good times will be enough to keep you from falling off the deep end. And… and think of it this way: there's a lot of pets out there in the world who'd love to have a roof over their head and a mom to nurture them. There's so many would-be pets out there like that in the world, Peri. What Pumpkin would want you to do is to share that love with one of them."

Peridot absorbed every word, but found it _very_ challenging to do so when Steven inadvertently groped her. She hadn't stopped blushing since she felt that warm hand over a sensitive part of her body.

"... That helps a lot," she finally said, fully sincere. "And… perhaps I'll consider following that advice. If that's what Pumpkin would want… and that does sound like something she'd want." She finally sighed. "In exchange for taking your time to console me for my loss, I will permit your left hand to stay where it is."

Steven _just now_ realized what he did. "O-oh, oh crap… P-Peridot, I didn't mean– that's where the heart really is on humans, and–"

It was satisfying seeing Steven get even more flustered than her. "I _said_ you can keep it there, you clod," she teased without relent. "You earned it, my significant other. If you pass on my generous concession now, I can't promise I'll give you another opportunity in the future."

She smirked when she felt Steven return his hand quickly returned to where it was.

"Can we sit down, though?" Steven asked with a yawn. "And maybe… for now… go to a spot just a bit more private?"

"I'll do you one better," she slyly offered as she wished for a convincing hologram simulation of the two innocently sleeping side-by-side. "That should buy us adequate time to be… especially intimate." She pursed her lips, trying to stifle another blush. "I'm not going to lie, Steven; I do feel like I'm on the verge of collapsing from sheer exhaustion of… well, _everything_ , but… I'll need more than rest to get through Pumpkin's ceremony if we're putting it off until tomorrow. I need a way to get my mind off this for at least a few hours and just… enjoy being home with you."

She placed a hand over Steven's left hand. "You did suggest we'll both require long-term therapy sessions to get past some of our… newest traumatic events. And you're the best healer I know, Steven. Just…" Peridot grunted; she gave up on suppressing her blush. "Please don't make me beg."

"I, uh, was almost gonna ask the same thing from you," Steven chuckled nervously. "Whenever you need me, you've got me, okay? I know a nice little alcove that's perfect for us."

"Excellent." Peridot wearily smirked as Steven helped her over to their destination. "It was the two of us specifically who miraculously saved everyone's lives today," she said, rationalizing their decision. "So, yes, they definitely are indebted to us. The least they can do is give us a day where we can do whatever we want. But we really do deserve more than that…"

"Ah, I'm not disagreeing with you, Dot, but I'm also not gonna push our luck."

* * *

Everyone was far too exhausted to do much of anything other than rest and bask in the warmth of familiarity that was their home the day they returned. Garnet discouraged anyone from bothering Steven or Peridot after a certain point of the day. While it didn't sit well with her to make a habit of letting them run off unsupervised, she really didn't like what her future vision offered if she let the others constantly cut into their alone time in regards to how Pumpkin's funeral would play out.

Said ceremony happened first thing in the morning, after the human members (and Amethyst) had breakfast. Iridescent Diamond made sure to teleport the black bubble somewhere secure where it couldn't be missed. Thankfully it was made black; it stuck out like a sore thumb among the thousands, if not millions of bubbled gemstones that, as Amethyst predicted, overflooded not just the Burning Room, but almost the entire temple. The first task after the ceremony was sorting out the bubbles and clearing them out. Pallid gems would remain stored, of course. With White Diamond forever gone, there was no telling how a pallid gem would behave, or if it wouldn't just fall apart immediately. The mass of Peridot immigrants would be the first to be unbubbled since they were well established to be harmless regardless of their potential hostility versus potential co-operability. Then it would be a tenuous one-by-one, case-by-case assessment of the other survivors. And this was probably the _easiest_ task the Crystal Gems had on schedule for their post-mission duties.

Steven took care of the black bubble, which would only be popped once it was time to put Pumpkin's remains to rest. Before the ceremony officially stated, Peridot felt a little uneasy when Lapis passed by without noticing her. While some part of Peridot wasn't entirely sorry for her actions because she never fully forgave Lapis, times were rapidly changing. Peridot was legitimately surprised when Lapis agreed to have her own room made in the Crystal Temple. Part of her honestly expected to completely leave by today, but as she thought back on it… Lapis really was doing her best to repent for her notorious noncommittal status with the Crystal Gems since her return from the Moon. Lapis had gone out of her way to talk to Peridot herself when the latter had some issues that needed ironing out. And Lapis respected Peridot as a leader and her direct superior far more than the young gem ever expected out of her. What she said the other day ago didn't truly warrant Peridot's actions at all, thinking back on it. All the more reason to clear the air.

With tense, crossed arms, hunched over shoulders, and a tilted head with eyes towards the ground, Peridot approached her former roommate (and now future fellow tenant, apparently), who was quietly making small-talk with Bismuth. It did warm Peridot's heart to see the two genuinely get along as well as they ended up. There was such a cold, menacing rift between the two, though Lapis was always the one who instigated the hostility. Peridot had no idea her improvised method of getting the two to make amends would end up genuinely working for the long term, since she only resorted to that so she could finish up her farewell logs to both of them, as well as Greg and Steven. She was very glad she had, though. They had already become fast friends by the time Steven healed her, and in the span of a week, the two were solid fusion partners.

It was a nice thing Peridot could take pride in being part of.

"Lapis… is this a bad time?"

The pair broke their conversation immediately and looked to their diminutive boss… although right now she wasn't really their boss at this point. Peridot also wasn't _as_ diminutive as she once was, but only beating out Amethyst in the height department (and a lot of that was due to her hair) was a low bar to clear.

"No, not really," Lapis replied; her tone seemed to imply she was being very careful in choosing her words around Peridot, especially considering the event that was about to take place. "What can I do for you?"

Peridot flinched; that was not the way Lapis would ever normally talk to her. "Accept my apology for slapping you, I suppose… b-but only if you want to!" she hastily added. "You were doing nothing more than making a valid point when you spoke up. I was being overly emotional, and… highly irrational. I've never dealt with loss like this before, so I lashed out at you. I-it isn't often someone can use my own words against me and win, so… it's nothing you did wrong. Instead of giving Pumpkin a proper goodbye, I hit you… and knowing your past history with Jasper, that was unacceptable behavior on my part. I paid the price for my actions when I lost my chance to say my farewells to Pumpkin, but I still owe you an apology. So… that's all there is to it." She bowed humbly before the elder gem. "I'm sorry, Lapis."

That drew an honest smile out of Lapis. "You know, Peridot… you surprised me that day."

"I-I imagine I did," Peridot quickly affirmed. She didn't expect Lapis to sound impressed with her. "I don't understand why your tone implies a pleasant form of surprise, though."

"Peridot, I've been expecting you to physically attack me since the day we reformed at the beach," she said with a chuckle. "What, did you think I didn't know you were pissed at me for ditching you? That was painfully obvious, no matter how hard you tried to look happy for me coming back. You had every right to want to beat the crap out of me, and I could see it in your eyes you _really_ wanted to do it at times. But you took up the leader role by then, so you made yourself hold back on those urges for the sake of the mission and to not kill the team's morale with unprofessional conduct. I'll admit that sort of made it all the more fun to tease you."

This all felt like something Peridot knew all along but never really acknowledged until now. She was surprised to see that Lapis looked that deeply into her behavior patterns. She wasn't wrong. "If you've been expecting me to assault you since the start of all this, then… pardon, did I misunderstand what you said before? I could've sworn you said my actions _surprised_ you."

"Oh, you didn't mishear me," Lapis assured. "You definitely surprised me."

Peridot had a distinct feeling Lapis was messing with her now. Part of her knew she deserved it, but it didn't stop the technician from narrowing her eyes at the taller gem and cease her humble pretenses. "Your statements contradict each other, Lapis. You either expected this or you didn't; it can't be both!"

Lapis had a bit of a laugh at that. "Sure, I can; after I watched the message you made for me, I figured you spit all the hot fire you were holding back on me all in that single segment. I remembered Peridots suck at physical combat, especially without their robo-crutches, so I thought maybe that was why you never tried to attack me, and you'd save it up for attacking me in a way more appropriate for your kind. I thought the video was your trump card. And, well… with what happened in the six-day gap, I figured if you were going to physically attack anybody, it would've been White Diamond. Considering I wasn't even trying to trigger you with what I said – mostly I didn't want all of the responsibility of calming you down to fall on Steven – that's why your slap surprised me. I knew I had something like that coming, though. And since you were an ascended gem by that point… not to mention the nature of the situation itself, I didn't want to fight back. The _real_ surprise was Steven superkicking you right after that, honestly."

Peridot blushed as she remembered that moment. She was genuinely a little afraid of Steven in that moment, but it didn't take long for her to comprehend why her boyfriend had been so rough with her after the slapping incident. "Y-yes, well… you could have just told me all of this from the start! I–… you were being confusing on purpose just now, weren't you?" It seemed so obvious all of a sudden that's what Lapis was aiming for.

"Eh, I'll admit, messing with you is guaranteed entertainment," Lapis admitted, smirking. "Geez, apology accepted, you little brat. Is that what you were looking for?"

"Minus the little brat part," Peridot insisted, sticking her nose up at Lapis.

Lapis just grinned and shook her head. " _Ohhhhh no_ , you are hereby now and forever a "little brat", Miss I'm-Younger-Than-Steven." The nearby Bismuth couldn't help but let out a laugh at that.

"I am so glad you didn't win that bet," Peridot glowered at the happy duo.

" _Please_ , you wish you were 150," Lapis laughed out.

"Still pissed you put in Cost is Correct rules at the last minute, Dottie-P!"

"Ah, you got what you deserved!" Peridot barked back at the quartz. "I expected better out of one of my best friends!" She grumbled much more quietly. "I mean, 12? _Really?_ "

"I was just as close as Greg, c'mooooon!" Amethyst pleaded.

" _Incorrect!_ You guessed 12, he had 14!" she pointed at the lone adult man in the audience. "You pegged me as a year too young, he had me a year too old. It's insulting enough you all treated me like a child well before this all came out, therefore it's a compliment when anyone assumes I'm older than I really am! Besides, instilling Cost is Correct rules six days prior to the announcement of the result is _hardly_ last-minute, Amethyst. You had _plenty_ of time to alter your bet. And if you're all going to make a poor attempt at running a bet on my age behind my back in the first place, it's only fair I get to put in whatever stipulation I want."

Bismuth shook her head. "I was kind of at an unfair disadvantage since I haven't known Peri that long, but somehow I wasn't the farthest off. Greg, how the heck did you get so close?"

Greg smiled nervously and shrugged. "What can I say? When you're the dad of a kid around that age, you have a good instinct about these things."

"I think you objectively need that money far more than the rest of these clods, anyway," Peridot told him. "So I hope you enjoy it."

"That reminds me… you've got a better nickname for me now, right? _Right?_ "

Peridot smirked. "I may have looked into a thesaurus or two in hopes of of finding a better alternative; you are the paternal unit of my favorite person in all existence, so I thought it was only right to put in a _little_ more effort to deciding on what I should call you."

"So, what'd you come up with?" Greg looked far too eager for something like this. Then again, it it meant he'd never have to be called PUU again…

"Well, there are a lot of alternative names for "paternal unit", it seems. Although many of them are not derived from the proper term. Since you _are_ Steven's paternal unit and always shall be, I opted to pick the cutest nickname for the paternal unit of the cutest boy in the world, _so_ … your permanent name is now Papa."

That elicited _so_ many snickers from the other gems.

"Heck, you're the closest thing _I'll_ ever have to a paternal unit; from what I've heard, you continued being a very good listener to the others while you prepared for my rescue much like you were a good listener to me before I launched the mission to rescue everyone else. Papa is perfect for you!"

Greg groaned as the laughter became much less subdued. "Is this what they call a self-fulfilling prophecy? Geez… well, it's better than PUU, so I guess I'll take it."

Pearl frowned and looked up at the beach house. "Steven should have been here by now. What could be holding him up?"

"GUYS! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THE BUBBLE!"

"Well, that didn't stay a mystery for long," Bismuth remarked.

"COMING, STEVEN!" Peridot willed her metal platform into existence and hopped on board, wasting no time in flying up to the house as soon as possible.

Everyone else either groaned or sighed before following along in their own ways.

"I don't know what's going on, or if Iridescent did something we somehow don't know about to that bubble, but I feel something moving around in there; I know that can't be normal!" Steven was pacing around like crazy. The black bubble was now on the floor, slightly moving around on its own, seemingly vibrating.

"We know exactly what's in the bubble, so… yeah, that's very wrong," Peridot noted as she cringed. "Oh, stars, I can't watch this! Someone with a stronger constitution or no soul-slash-sense of morality needs to take control of the situation before I lose it!"

Garnet nonchalantly picked up the black bubble, but couldn't examine what was inside, of course. "My constitution is fine. Everyone may want to maintain their distance; the faint of heart had best turn away."

Peridot and Steven had already turned away. The only other one who did so was Pearl.

"I'll, uh, keep an eye on the kids," was Pearl's excuse. "Just be careful, alright?"

"You're foolin' nobody, P," Amethyst called out before turning to Garnet. "C'mon, let's see the surprise already!"

Garnet nodded and popped the bubble. An odorless black cloud emitted from the bubble, blinding the room momentarily. Seconds later, Peridot cried out in surprise before falling face-first into the floor.

"Peridot?!" Steven was alarmed; despite not being that far away from him, he couldn't see his girlfriend at all.

"Lights on!" Garnet called out to the gems who had conveniently-placed gemstones to use as flashlights. "Lapis!"

"Already on it!" Lapis assured the Crystal Gems leader, having taken initiative in conjuring water to absorb or neutralize this dark fog.

It wasn't a long-lived visual obstruction. Everyone looked to where they heard Peridot fell, to find the reason why that happened: she was pounced from behind. By… what looked to be Pumpkin, only colored exclusively in chartreuse and pink.

"That'd better not be Pumpkin returned as a walker…" Amethyst muttered lowly.

"Oh, enough with that!" Pearl was getting agitated with that running joke. "But… really, this is…"

Garnet nodded. "She's just like Lion…"

"W-wait, when the heck did we revive Pumpkin?!" Steven was happy beyond belief, but incredibly confused. "Nothing I did worked! And my healing and reviving effects never took this long to kick in…"

"It obviously wasn't just you," Lapis observed. "She's not all-pink like Lion is."

" **PUMPKIN?!** " Peridot cried out and quickly scrambled to her knees to find Pumpkin right there before her very eyes – whole and full of life. She was quick to notice the off-coloring, but she couldn't have cared less at the moment. She sobbed out with joy as she embraced her Pumpkin with all the love she could muster. "How are you–?! This is a miracle!"

That word stuck out like a sore thumb to everyone in the room.

Most in the room looked in Steven's direction.

"H-hey, do you seriously think I knew about this?!" He honestly was clueless. "I mean, I don't know _how_ , but…"

"Did your fusion cry over Pumpkin, by any chance?" Lapis asked. "If your tears alone could revive, then definitely Irisdsecent's…"

Steven shrugged. "I mean, I think she did a _little_ , but I don't remember any getting on Pumpkin. Iridescent bubbled her pretty quick. And again, I'd think her reviving would be even quicker than mine, you know?"

"She might have shed a tear on the bubble!" Peridot realized excitedly. "And the bubble took on restorative properties! She made it so the bubble couldn't be seen through, so we couldn't have known any kind of revival was going on outside! I mean, it _had_ to have been the fusion; I still can't heal on my own, let alone revive, and there's no other way Pumpkin here would have taken on my diamond color if it wasn't involved…" She resumed hugging her pet with sheet enthusiasm.

Pearl nodded. "That's plausible. So the time difference was…"

"W-well, you recall how Pumpkin was found after the crash," Peridot recounted with clear discomfort in doing so. "This was more than just reviving a body; this was rebuilding half of it and recreating everything that was inside that made Pumpkin function."

"And all of that is beyond even Pink's means of restoration," Garnet acknowledged. "So this really could only be the work of a miracle."

"I can't believe she did that without either me or Peri catching on," Steven marveled. "Well, whenever it's time for us to fuse into her next time, please tell her thanks for us, okay?" he asked the others, and there were no objections.

Bismuth was quite content with the situation. "So everything's worked out as well as it could've, given the circumstances. Guess that means the funeral's cancelled, then!"

"Excellent! Then we can immediately start cleaning the house of this horrific bubbled gem surplus!" Pearl stepped forward with a devious grin, to the groans of most of her teammates. Of course, _she_ would be the most adamant gem about cleaning up that mess and making it priority #1 on the Crystal Gems' ever-growing to-do list. "Oh, everybody hush! Out of everything we'll be busy with in the immediate future, this is the easiest task to do."

"Which makes it the most _boring_ ," Amethyst cut in.

"Pearl, stop killing the mood! I _just_ got Pumpkin back and you're talking like it's not something to celebrate over!" Peridot clung to her sentient squash while giving Pearl a very indignant look.

"You can keep her with you while we work, Peridot," Garnet assured, "Besides, I'd like you specifically to come with me to sort out the bubbles Ruby made."

Peridot tilted her head at the fusion with concern. "I get that she poofed a load of me-wannabes on her own, but what's that got to do with me?"

"One in the group Ruby took care of was a Peridot from not only the exact same facet as you, but was also part of the 5X cut series. Ruby promised this one her little sister would give her a very warm welcome."

"Wow, thanks for making sure I agreed to such a thing before letting her know," Peridot grumbled through gritted teeth. "I never saw any of my 5X kin after we were fitted for our limb enhancers, you know. She might as well be any other of the wannabes."

Garnet smiled knowingly. "It was the only way Ruby knew how to convince her to come along without a fight. You might not have heard of 5XF, but 5XF has heard a great deal about you, Peridot. She says her workstation was very close to yours, and that she often overheard the Peridots from your station speak very candidly about your true nature, so she made it a point to avoid you. I thought you'd find her to be a perfect starting point for getting her and the Peridots here who knew of your Homeworld self to know who you are now; you would be the most positive proof of the benefits of living on Earth."

Peridot signed with resignation. "Well, when you put it like that, I guess my hands _are_ tied. That can wait until tomorrow, right?"

"We weren't planning on letting any out until then, anyway," Pearl told her. "It'll take most of today just to get these bubbles sorted properly. It'll be a few more hours before Connie's home from school before she can join us…"

"And as much as I'd like to help, I do have a car wash to get back to," Greg sheepishly admitted.

"Guess things'll have to get super crazy again for everyone to unite for the cause," Amethyst said with conceding sigh. "Ah, the price we pay for bringin' about revolution…"

* * *

"So, you're gonna meet 5XF tomorrow for sure, huh? Can I meet her, too?"

"If you wanna get ahead of yourself and introduce yourself as a brother-in-law, I _guess_ I can't stop you." Peridot smirked. "But… honestly? We're probably going to end up co-running a _lot_ of things in this new era operation, Steven. The more I think about it, the more it feels like we might be taking on too much all at once. Don't get me wrong; I don't think it's right to keep the gems all bubbled up until a better idea comes along. It just feels like we _really_ didn't plan ahead for these events. Saving every single innocent Homeworld gem sounds like a fantastic idea until you remember how many millions of those exist and what a nightmare it's gonna be to set them all loose on Earth at once while they don't have a clue what happened, where they are, or why."

Steven nodded sadly in agreement. "And sending any back to the colonies at this point is just gonna cause similar problems, plus the colonies are another problem on their own."

It was now nighttime; the gem bubbles had mostly been sorted out and they were due for liberation the next day. It was very long and dull work, and it was only the beginning. Knowing how much this new era would likely feature Steven and Peridot as the centerpieces of the whole operation took its toll on both of them. After an immensely exhausting week and a half, Peridot really did want to take Steven up on the offer to just run off together for a week to go and do whatever the hell they wanted while they still had youth to spend on that kind of freedom. Thankfully, for a gem who could use her willpower to perform a wide variety of feats, she was getting the hang of engineering a distraction to allow herself and Steven to not only allow themselves ample time for privacy, but keep the others left out of the loop or completely fooled into thinking they were doing some boring task they were assigned with to minimize the suspicion and inevitable scolding that would come from their teammates for shirking their responsibilities.

They sat side-by-side on a grassy hill in the same valley where the barn once stood, but they avoided getting too close to spots they were familiar with, knowing that they were where their teammates would believe they would be hiding out around. They were fixated on the giant full moon glowing in the endless sea of stars of the night sky as they talked about the impending stress coming from their rapidly-changing futures and developing roles within.

"The refugee gems are more of a priority, at least," Peridot affirmed. "We technically don't _have_ to interact with any of the Homeworld colonies until they link Earth to the cause of Homeworld's disappearance. But I'd hate to think how many otherwise stable planets are going to descend into chaos once knowledge of the power vacuum becomes more widespread. The sooner we reveal ourselves as delegates of Earth, the better that would make us look… but that also means they'll be looking to you and me exclusively to run their whole operation, which even if we _wanted_ to do, we just aren't experienced enough to run the colonies to the efficiency standards the others would hold us to. They're not gonna understand that we are respectively Peridot and Steven Universe first and foremost, nor will they be able to comprehend the notion that Chartreuse and Pink 2.0 are very unorthodox from the Diamonds they've come to know. They'll overhype us, which will make it that much harder for them to take us seriously if we can't meet their unreasonably high expectations."

"All the gems new to Earth are gonna look to us, too," Steven sighed out. "At least they'll listen to our friends and we can count on them for help, but they're still gonna come to us for everything sooner than, say, Garnet."

Peridot grumbled and looked up towards the gemstone on her forehead. "Just as I accept the Diamond part of myself, I have to go right back to hiding it, only this time for the sake of convenience. How hard do you think it'll be to teach them that the Diamonds weren't as flawless as they've been led to believe since the beginning of Homeworld history?"

"Harder than I'm willing to admit," Steven mumbled. "I'd say we'll need Iridescent Diamond like, all the time to bail us out with a bunch of miracles, but one of these days we're gonna need her to see if Homeworld really is being reborn like she wanted it to be."

"Well, understand that the birth of a planet takes a very long time. Long as in, longer than your oldest friends have been alive," Peridot informed him. "That's a solid back-burner project, because it'll take even longer than that before the planet develops enough to be sustainable for any kind of life." She looked down and lightly petted the sleeping Pumpkin, who now glowed in the dark. " _Maybe_ by then, Pearl will find a pallid cure. The more projects we keep taking on, the longer it's gonna take. There's still renovations set for the temple so my division can finally properly live there on top of that."

"If they'd let me, I'd totally share a bedroom with you," Steven assured his girlfriend. "But, I guess that's still a few years off… minimum."

"We obviously should be doing that if we want to keep living within our means," Peridot arrogantly boasted. "I mean, the plans will almost double the amount of rooms already set in place. I'm certain if the gems were more economical about this kind of thing, they'd see merit in your proposal."

Steven smirked. "We can start sending 'em to live in the bathroom to get an idea of what that's like."

Peridot laughed out loud at that. " _OH!_ Wow, wow. I wanna see that now, thanks."

"Hm…" Steven's eyes wandered. "How're you feeling about the Moon?"

"The Moon?" the technician gestured to it. "You mean as an alternative for where some of the bubbled gems can live, or an academy for the ones we're rehabilitating, or… how good of a place does the Moon base make for a hiding spot from the rest of the world?" Her catlike smirk made it apparent which one was on her mind.

"Actually, I was wondering how you thought how nice it looked, but any of those are pretty valid options."

"It's very gorgeous, as usual," Peridot casually stated. "I suppose I can appreciate the "romantic" aspect of its aesthetic you humans harp on about so much now, at least. As for the other topics, yes, yes, and _yes._ " She snickered at the thought. "Honestly, though, the Moon Base has completely gone obsolete; it should be re-purposed into any of these options." She looked over to Pumpkin again and thought back to a familiar topic. "You know, our dreams for a completely predictable and ordinary future as a family grows ever-more distant. Pumpkin's color no longer matches the Pumpkins in my dream. Now that we're both Diamonds with a ton of new responsibilities, that means your career, whatever it was in mine, isn't coming true. The part about me being a stay-at-home maternal unit with that many offspring can't be even remotely possible, now… so none of that glowing happiness for us."

Steven looked to Pumpkin as well. "We've got that much more to prove, I guess. Hey, Peridot?" He smiled when he got her undivided attention. "I'm really glad we were able to save Pumpkin after all, but… you're not gonna forget what I told you yesterday, right? Something like that can still happen at any time… and I don't mean just to Pumpkin."

"Steven, what you told me then meant so much and left that great of an impression on me that I _allowed you_ to fondle me," she reminded him, prompting her boyfriend to blush profusely. "I hoped that would imply I'm never going to forget anything you told me. And I'm fully aware this could happen to any of our loved ones… and is an inevitability for your mortal loved ones. I'll always be here for you, just like you've been there every step of the way for me." The little gem smiled knowingly at her boyfriend. "What else is on your mind?"

"Well..." Steven tried not to stutter. "I'm almost afraid to ask this because it might ruin the date if it doesn't go as planned, but… remember when Iridescent Diamond insisted that she's really Pink 2.0's and Chartreuse's fusion? And you and me would actually make a completely different fusion altogether?"

Ideas like this were precisely why Peridot was so certain she'd never stop loving this silly boy. "We're past the problems that caught us in a snag before," she brightly acknowledged. "I think it's high time we give it another try… the real me with the real you, this time."

Steven pulled Peridot up to her feet and wrapped his arm around her waist, holding the gem close while indulging in their shared body warmth. "A lot of fusions involve a lot of dance stuff or acrobatics… I dunno, I'm having a hard time picturing us doing it on the level I've seen Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst do it. Even Lapis and Bismuth have a really cool aerial acrobatic routine before they become Moonstone most of the time."

"It does seem too formal for a couple of mavericks like us," Peridot observed; in this environment with just her beloved and her sleeping foster child/pet, she felt a perpetual calming sense in this moment where everything she said, no matter how rigid or analytical her verbiage was, came with a serene, euphoric tone. "I picture something more like those flashy joint entrances in the sports entertainment programs you and Amethyst enjoy so much."

"You've been getting into them too, I've noticed," Steven smugly told her as he kissed Peridot's subtly glowing gemstone. "You used to think it was too trashy for your "refined" taste, I think that's what you said."

Peridot sighed happily and rolled her eyes. "I took the time to analyze it with a more… non-biased perspective, you could say," she admitted. "Deep down, it's basically Camp Pining Hearts, only the episodes are three times the length and it's been ongoing for several decades – that's a _lot_ of binge watching I hope I'll still get to do with you and Amethyst despite our ever-growing schedules and duties. But, yeah. It's CPH, only with much more impressive stunts and special effects and _violence_." She smiled oh-so deviously. "Do you have any idea how much I wish Percy would just man up and take a steel chair to smash Paulette out of a scene? That would be _amazing_ …"

Steven chuckled at her wild imagination. "Just remember not to try this at home, Peri."

Peridot leaned in to kiss him. "Of course, of course. I'd love to try the Sheasaro entrance one day, but for now…" She kissed Steven again, this time moaning briefly into his lips. "I just want to make sure we can really do it this time. We didn't need flashy stuff to make Iridescent Diamond. I wanna see what kind of gem we make together… what _we_ can do as one. Not Pink 2.0, not Chartreuse… just us, the way we met each other. Do you think we can do it now, Steven?"

"Tonight, we're gonna find out," Steven decided. "It's gonna be a great fusion… and you can still use your willpower to make stuff happen in your Peri form, so… I'm counting on you to want this enough, okay?"

"It is _extremely_ high up my list of things I want more than absolutely anything else," Peridot assured him with another kiss. "There's only a couple of things I truly want more than that… they both involve you; I'm sure you know what they are already. Even if I get a migraine from willing it this hard, I'm giving you everything I can offer, Steven. Everything I am today is thanks to you… and now, for once, you're going to let me return you that favor. No more modest fussing from you; are we understood?"

This time, Steven gently locked lips with her before giving a response. "With a cutie like you keeping me in line, how could I go wrong?"

Peridot sputtered and lost her composure. "How brazen of you to call me _cute_ ," she noted, trying hard not to look too self-conscious before the full moon caught her eye again. "Ah… if only we could just make ourselves a little vacation home up there. I can see it in my mind's eye; our secret refuge from the rest of the world."

"If you can imagine it, maybe you can make it happen," Steven suggested, feeling optimistic upon hearing this idea. He too gazed at the moon; its ethereal glow making the planetoid all the more enticing as a private haven. "You're really good at building… seems like an easy thing to wish for. I'm just wondering if your teleporting is on Lion's level yet."

"I want you to imagine it with me," Peridot said with absolute certainty. "I'll have to experiment on my will-powered teleporting to test my limits to know fort certain I can get us there safely. I'm _fairly_ certain I'd achieve such a feat with ease as Chartreuse Diamond, but I'd still prefer to only shift into her only when it's necessary; it would be detrimental to start identifying her as a crutch after everything we've been through. And it goes without saying that I'll need to establish an isolated, breathable atmosphere for you, as well."

Steven chuckled warmly before planting a kiss on Peridot's cheek. "Well, if you ever need to shift into Chartreuse, let me know and I'll go Pink 2.0. I think they deserve their own time to date and stuff… y'know, so they know they're not just tools for Iridescent Diamond. They're individuals, too. We just gotta give them time. Mine just woke up from a really long sleep, and you…? Peri, yours is a real diamond in the rough."

"You're just saying that because Chartreuse has a better body than I do," Peridot casually pointed out. "I'd bring up how it feels like we're moving way too fast in our relationship, but the consequences of our accomplishments in our last Homeworld mission are basically forcing us to maintain this pace now. I was so ready to just slow down and relax, too…"

"We're gonna be okay, Peridot," Steven promised, now very much stern and sobered down. "Nothing's coming between us. Just like nothing's gonna come between us becoming _our_ fusion. I bet our fusion could make it to the moon real easy-like." Steven's gemstone now glowed along with Peridot's. "I– oh geez, I can feel it…"

Peridot's gemstone emitted a brighter glow and she smiled accordingly. "Steven… you're right. We'll be okay. We'll get past every obstacle thrown in our path… and…" She blushed. "We're gonna make it, Steven. Will you say it with me?"

Steven beamed at his girlfriend, trying to contain the tiny leak of tears spilling from the corners of his eyes. "Haha, yes! We're gonna make it!"

Peridot linked her hands with Steven's, closed her eyes, and drew Steven in close. She rested her brightly shining gemstone gently against his forehead. "We're gonna make it."

Steven eagerly leaned in to steal a kiss for a brief moment. "We're gonna make it…"

A bright pink aura engulfed Steven as his body began to turn into pure light. Similarly, a muted lime green light overcame Peridot. This looked different from Chartreuse's energy… and she consequently felt so proud of herself. The lowest-class Era 2 was emitting her own aural energy.

"We're gonna make it–!" Peridot was overjoyed to say as her body gradually shifted into light.

"We're gonna make it!" Their voices were now echoing as the bodies of light melded together and became one. Pink and light green melded together, and for the first time in their young lives, Steven and Peridot felt their consciousness minds combine into one. Nothing abruptly broke the connection, finally.

A blinding light bleached the entire area, even startling the sleeping Pumpkin. She stared at the strange phenomenon as a new voice made its presence known, but felt no fear, as there was a sense of familiarity to it.

"Hey, Steven…"

"Yeah, Peridot?" It was the same voice.

" **We made it."**

* * *

 **Notes:**

Really wasn't sure where to put the notes this time, because honestly? This sucker is 299 pages long. That's somewhere in the neighborhood of 112k words, so I ended up beating my own record for the longest singular chapter I've ever written. I'm really not sure how to feel about this; my freaking out over GA2 seems quite trivial now, huh?

I really, really wonder if there's another way I should format this, because this is a result of sticking to my guns on what I first decided on for structure: just 3 acts, a quick job, no problem. This WAS a quick job relative to my other stories, actually, but hoooooly _hell_ these part sizes. I think it would be frowned upon to just repost the exact same story but with more chapters, soooo... kinda at a loss here. I'm just super glad to be done with this.

You likely noticed I sequel baited the hell out of this part despite it being the finale and I have no current plans for any stories after this - though no doubt, if I did made more, it'd be continuations from here. But honestly, I'm hoping I just inspire someone else to make these things for me, because I am _pooped_.

I think I'm gonna make some tumblr posts at least discussing some of the MANY outside references made in this story overall, especially this chapter... and perhaps some other plot points if people are so inclined. Hit me up on shinneth on Tumblr if you'd like to take part in that, because I'm a bit at a loss for words for what to say now that I've finished this. I quickly became aware that turning Peridot into a Diamond is far from an original concept to take her character, but I hope I did it in a unique sort of way, at least. She's still herself despite it all. So many scenes sort of turned on me while writing them. For example, the scene where Garnet and Moonstone chew out Steven was supposed to end with Steven feeling guilty - somehow it turned into Steven turning everything around on them and giving a massive The Reason You Suck speech, so the scene ended with Moonstone and Garnet on the losing end there. Killing off Pumpkin (temporarily) was a plot point I came up with pretty late on in the game, et cetera. I hope everyone enjoys the conclusion to this. I'm probably gonna work on some of the new fusion/form change designs in the near future - I completely neglected to even bother describing Celadon Diamond. At this point I'm just... meh, I'll let you all decide. She's awful, anyway. But with Iridescent Diamond, the look I'm going for is (hair specifically) Nia from Gurren Lagann - kinda fitting since Peridot's new visor is based on Kamina's and all. I did an experimental recolor of Nia with the Iridescent design and it's super adorable. It's just that, but in nice, flowing pigtails.

So... this is it, I guess! If you want to discuss more about this or comment on how awesomely/poorly I handled things beyond a review, just hit me up on the Tumblr account, as I'll be using that a lot more now that I have this burden off my back. In all seriousness, I really enjoyed writing all of this and I'm very thankful to everyone who's reviewed and otherwise hit me up to talk to me about Gem Ascension. If anyone's actually inclined to make a spinoff based off this Technical Bad End AU, let me know so I can check it out! You've all got my blessing to tear this thing apart with your own ideas.

I'm more likely to get back to Travels of the Trifetcta! now, as it has been my poor neglected hit story and deserves the kind of attention GA has received. Hope everyone had an awesome time reading, and I hope I managed to end this on a much less depressing note than GA2's! Until the next story... bye-bye!


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